The Tactician and the Dragons
by Yolashillinia
Summary: Volume 4 of my Tactician of Elibe series. Ceniro and his companions search for some way to defeat Nergal before he can unleash dragons on Elibe... Novelization of the final section of the game. Tactician/Lyn, Eliwood/Ninian. Complete.
1. Chapter 1: Kinship's Bond

Written in 2013-2014.

Author's note: Ceniro is pronounced "keh-NEER-oh" as it is originally from Quenya

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Chapter 1: Kinship's Bond

The continent of Elibe basked in the late summer sun. On the surface, peace reigned supreme. Farmers worked, mostly undisturbed by bandits or the wars of the nobles; in the cities, merchants bartered their goods. Little showed of the recent turmoil that had churned up half of Lycia.

Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, and their group journeyed west towards Ostia the next day and the day after, passing along the coastline of Laus. On the second day, they stopped for lunch at an old fortress on the Ostia/Laus border, lightly manned because of the existence of a much more modern and formidable fortress two kilometres east. Ceniro spent the time among the ranks, getting to know the newer faces as people and not just faces and weapons, though old friends demanded his attention as well. Wil was fussing over his feet again.

"I don't know how you wander the world," he said. "I used to travel, yes, but I couldn't do it every day for months on end."

"Yes, you could," Ceniro said. "You'd get used to it. Anyway, we're actually going a bit slower today, doesn't that help?"

"I, uh, didn't notice?"

"I could carry you, if you like?" Florina offered, and Ceniro stared at her. Florina blushed, but Ceniro smiled. The pegasus knight was actually interacting with men, and with archers, and more than that, she seemed to have a real fondness for Wil in particular. She didn't openly express it, but Ceniro could see it in the way she stood near him when Ceniro gave orders, and the way she fluttered when he got hurt. And Wil was even more openly fond of Florina, sometimes standing between her and new male recruits – he actually stood up to Raven when the swordsman started trying to give Florina a hard time. Between Wil and Lucius, he soon left off.

Rebecca, on the other hand, didn't have the time of day for Wil, and Ceniro could tell it bothered him. Perhaps some subtle information gathering was in order. Later.

"Nah," Wil said. "I just gotta suck it up like a real soldier." He winked at her.

"You've just gone soft from living in Caelin Castle for a year," Dorcas teased.

Wil grinned. "I guess… but, it's pretty good! Good friends, a roof over my head, and the opportunity to make a difference by driving away the bandits in the Eagle Hills. It's as much fun as being a mercenary, and more comfortable."

"Yes, that does sound like a good life," Ceniro said. "I'm sorry to drag you away from it…"

"Don't be silly. We all like following you. And, isn't this a chance to make even more of a difference? I mean, what's up with that Nergal guy, anyway?"

"I know," Ceniro said, and laughed. "Oh, hang on. Lyn's waving at me. I'll be right back."

"Sure thing."

Hector was talking to a mounted messenger in the great hall of the castle, and after a few minutes, dismissed him. He turned to Eliwood, Lyn, and Ceniro. "I did send a message after what you said the other day, and it seems my brother is already on his way here. We're to wait for him here."

"Why would Lord Uther come to us?" Eliwood asked.

"Well, you know how I said Castle Ostia is full of spies? I assume he thinks it will be easier to speak freely out here."

"Won't his leaving draw even more attention?" Lyn asked, frowning.

Hector snorted. "He's traveling in secret with few attendants. He's done this before; he'll be fine, don't worry."

Lyn smiled. "How unconventional. It must run in the family."

"Hey!" Hector said. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Lyn gave him another smile, this one nothing but charming. "Nothing. I'm looking forward to meeting him very much."

At that moment, they heard Ninian cry out. "Nils? Nils!"

Lyn and Eliwood turned instantly and ran to the next room in the fortress, where Ninian knelt beside Nils, who seemed to have collapsed. "What happened?" Lyn asked anxiously.

"Nils, you all right?" Hector asked, squatting beside the boy.

"Nils!" Ninian wailed.

"Ninian, calm down!" Eliwood said, taking her hand as he knelt beside her. "It will be all right. Let's just move him into the back room and call a healer…"

"No, don't move him!" Ninian said, still greatly upset but more in control of herself now. "I-I'm sorry. Please, just don't move him."

"…Okay," Hector said, standing up again. "Whatever makes him feel better. No healer?"

"N-no. Just… one night's rest. He gave me too much of his power, I think. Oh, Nils… I'm sorry, Lord Hector."

"No worries," Hector said. "We have to stick around here anyway. Hm?"

"Lord Hector!" Oswin announced from the door. "The fortress is surrounded by hostile mercenaries!"

"What? Not now…"

Ceniro pulled out the farseer, intending to check Oswin's statement, but when he gave it the command to scan the area, it gave a pop and a puff of smoke, and he yelped and dropped it. "Ow! Drat. Ow."

"What's wrong?" Lyn asked. "Did it break?"

"It's certainly not working… I don't know what's wrong with it, and I don't have the knowledge or skill to fix it. The only person who does, I have no idea where he is. But I'll just have to fight without. Just like old times. Come on! Oswin, what kind of forces are we looking at, and where?"

"Unsure of exact numbers, as they are partly hidden in the brush. However, there are definitely wyvern riders both east and west, and a number of archers, axemen, and possibly mages among the group to the south."

A new, unfamiliar soldier ran up to them. "My lords! There are already enemy forces penetrating our defences! Please, help us with your soldiers!"

"Who are you?" Eliwood asked.

"I am captain of the mercenaries stationed in this fortress; my name is…"

"Rath?" Lyn asked. "Is that Rath over there?"

The Sacaean horseman turned his head. "Lyn of the Lorca. Are you being hunted again?"

"Well met, Rath of the Kutolah!" Lyn turned back to the captain. "Listen, sir, this is our tactician. Do whatever he tells you and we'll be fine."

Lyn and Rath continued their conversation as Ceniro ran up to the ramparts to take stock of the situation. There was a ballista down in the courtyard; the main gates of the fortress had crumbled in some assault in the far past, and the enemy mercenaries were already climbing inside, battling with the friendly mercenaries defending the castle. "First. We have to defend the ballista. They're far too close to it. Canas, Erk! We need some fire power. Scare them away. Lowen, Sain, Isadora, get down and to the west; charge across the courtyard with your swords. Raven, Guy, Eliwood, Lyn, meet them on the far side – hammer and anvil. Florina, Fiora! Get the mages! And someone tell Salir to go in the back with Nils."

He had to shout, something he hadn't had to do in a while, but he trusted that they heard him or that someone would repeat to them what their assignments were. But, oddly enough, he could hear someone else shouting orders, too, someone outside the fortress.

"Who's that?" he asked Hector, pointing down at a paladin waiting outside the gate.

"His name is Eubans," Hector growled. "A very good mercenary, and until recently was in Laus's employ. I wonder what he stands to gain here…"

"Wil! The ballista's free, get on it!"

"Not many bolts left, what do you want me to target?" Wil shouted up at him.

"Got a couple armour knights moving in, take them! Lucius, you take them too!" Ceniro looked around. "Hector, take the other axemen and hold the eastern flank of the castle. Don't let anyone in."

"You got it."

"Marcus! You and Oswin are on the west! Take Rebecca and Matthew and Legault! Eliwood, head over there with Ninian. Serra, you're healer for the east, Priscilla, you're on the west." He peered down at the eastern gate. "Lyn! Hector's in trouble, go to him! Rath, Wil needs cover from a mage!"

Eubans was moving up. "Mages, watch for archers! Armour knights, take cover from the ballista – do not move in its line of sight! Yves, go give Heath back-up. Giles, target that tactician, bring him down!" Ceniro took a step back from the edge of the parapet as a volley of arrows came arcing down on him.

"Uh… Kent, can I ride with you? I need to be more mobile."

"As you command," Kent said, and held still long enough for Ceniro to awkwardly climb up behind him. "You need to practice mounting a horse more…"

"I know… sorry… okay, I'm set. Let's go see what things are like on the west-"

Something swooped down on them, and Ceniro yelped and tried to burrow into Kent in pure reflex. A green wyvern landed beside them. "I'm not an enemy!" the rider announced.

"Who are you, then?" Kent demanded, his lance set to charge.

"My name is Heath. I cannot in good conscience attack unarmed women and children. I have already surrendered to Lord Eliwood and I wish to fight for you."

"In that case… Heath? Go back to fight beside Eliwood. That side's a little bit weak. Kent, change in plan, I- hang on. Isadora! Get Wil out of there!" There was a mage threatening the archer.

The battle swirled around them, and since Ceniro was no longer being targeted for the moment, he sent Kent off to join Sain and called several fighters from each flank to replace each other.

The enemy commander was difficult to fight. This was the first time he had ever encountered someone who took charge on the battlefield like he did, someone who commanded individual soldiers. Neither side was having much luck scoring kills, although thus far Ceniro had not lost anyone. At a lull in the commands, Ceniro stared at Eubans, trying to size him up – Eubans stared back.

"Why don't you come down here and fight me yourself, pup?" Eubans bellowed up to him.

"I think I'd rather not," Ceniro called back. "My only skill is tactics and I'd rather not get sat on by your warhorse."

"Wyverns-"! shouted Eubans.

Ceniro dove for cover as a shadow appeared over him. "Rebecca! Dart! Deal with that!"

Every order Ceniro called, Eubans countered, and Ceniro counter-countered, until both sides ground to a halt and looked at their tacticians in confusion, as the rapid blitz of orders was becoming too fast to follow and it was clearly becoming a purely mental challenge on both sides.

Ceniro moved back to the edge of the rampart and considered his opponent; Eubans was red-faced.

"You're not bad for a mere child!" Eubans called. "Still, I live and breathe the air of war, and you won't beat me in the end!"

"You're pretty good yourself!" Ceniro answered. "Were you also trained by Lord Garlant? No one else has even come close to challenging me one-on-one since I left Ostia!"

"Oooh, cocky," Hector said. "Keep talking like that and I'll follow you to hell and back."

"I thought you already were," Ceniro murmured back.

"It's clear that you and I won't outfight each other with our forces," Eubans called. "I propose a duel."

"Why should we fight anyway?" Ceniro said. "Marquess Laus is dead. There is no reason for you to be here."

"For our honour-"

"That you left behind when you decided to include women and children in your assault!" Heath shouted suddenly from behind Ceniro. "There's an injured boy in this fortress! All they are doing is protecting him!"

"And before that, they invaded Laus-"

"Who ambushed us, and then invaded Caelin, who was aggressor to no one-" Eliwood started.

"And then they killed Marquess Laus-"

"In combat," Hector protested. "He was doing pretty good until he made Eliwood mad. At least, I think that's what happened," he said, turning to Eliwood.

"Enough!" Eubans cried. "I am not here to debate ethics. Send me your best warrior, and I shall face him in combat."

Ceniro frowned at Eubans and sucked on his lower lip. "And if they defeat you, you will withdraw?"

"I will be dead, but my forces will withdraw, yes. And if I defeat you, you will put down your arms and surrender. Laus will grant you that mercy."

"We accept," Eliwood said, with the sincerity that told Ceniro he was telling the truth.

"Eliwood, is honour more important than your life, not to mention saving the world?" Hector demanded.

"Heath, do you think it's possible to defeat him without killing him?" Ceniro asked.

Heath slowly shook his head. "He will fight as long as he has strength in his body."

"A sleep staff would come in handy… but that's probably cheating," Ceniro muttered. "Um. Let me see… Hector… Kent… Lyn… Rath…"

"That's a lot of names," Raven said. "Send me."

"He's using a lance; you're good, but that's not a chance that's worth taking."

"Well?" Eubans called. "I'm ready!"

"Hector," Ceniro said. "You're up."

Hector grinned. "An excellent choice."

"No pressure," Lyn said. "It's only our freedom and the fate of the world at stake."

Hector rolled his eyes as he shouldered his axe. "Have a little faith in me, would you? I'm only going to single-handedly save everyone…"

He stepped out of cover into the courtyard, and no arrows shot out at him, and no spells erupted around him. Thus far, Eubans was keeping his word.

Hector let the head of his axe fall to the ground with a thud. "Come at me, then!"

Eubans' horse pawed the ground, then reared. It hit the ground and galloped towards Hector.

Hector raised his axe again and spun it around his head. As Eubans closed the distance between them, Hector jumped back to avoid getting run down, and dodged the point of the spear. As Eubans came around to try again, Hector ducked and smacked the horse with the flat of the axe, making it startle. Although the roughness of his self-teaching was evident, his control over his weapon was equally evident.

The third charge, Hector neatly side-stepped and brought the blade crashing down sharply on the lance, a move that Ceniro would hardly have believed possible.

Eubans only drew his sword, and Hector raised his eyebrows. "Hm. Maybe should have finished him before he brought that out. Oh well. Have at thee, or whatever."

Eubans began to whale on Hector's defenses, a bit faster than the lord was comfortable with, Ceniro knew. He blocked every blow, but sooner or later, something was going to get through. He let a stroke fall on his right pauldron, and the next stroke knocked the Wolf Beil from his hands and into a heap of rubble.

Hector didn't even waste time glancing after it, taking the next sword blow on his forearm. Instead of backing off, he jumped forward, inside Eubans' striking arc, and hauled the mercenary captain from his saddle. Then, as Eubans was trying to find his footing and defend himself, Hector punched the sword out of his hand.

There followed the most brutal fist-fight Ceniro had ever witnessed. Both were very strong, and heavily armoured, but after a few swings, the advantage turned to Hector.

At least, until Eubans grabbed his wrist and plunged a dagger into his side, below the armour. The watchers in the fortress gasped. "Hector!" cried Eliwood, Lyn, and Ceniro.

"Seriously!?" Hector spat in anger and pain, and as Eubans began to chuckle darkly, punched him in the face with his other fist.

Eubans went flying backwards, and Hector yanked the dagger from his side. "Ow. Oh gods…" He followed that up with a number of words that made Dart cover Rebecca's ears.

"Are you all right?" Ceniro called.

"I'm fine! Don't distract me!" He gestured to Eubans. "Pick up your sword. We'll finish this with weapons." He picked up his axe and drew it back, ready to strike.

"You're a fool," Eubans rasped, but picked up the sword and ran at him.

"And so are you!" Hector gritted, blocking the first stroke. The wound was slowing him more than before, but Eubans had taken a beating and was not raining blows down on him nearly as fast as before. They were still pretty evenly matched.

Eubans slipped in a blow and bashed Hector in the side of the head with the pommel of his sword. Hector fell to the ground and grunted. Eubans pointed his sword at Hector's throat. "Surrender."

Hector knocked the sword aside with his arm and flung his axe wildly upwards. Eubans staggered away, clutching his gut. "Never, you bastard," Hector gasped, and let his head fall back as Eubans crumpled to the stones.

"Is… is it over?" Eliwood asked. Both combatants were sprawled out on the ground, and neither was moving.

"I think so," Ceniro said. "Serra! Go heal Hector! Marcus, Dorcas, go with her." The cleric ran out onto the field obediently, as the enemy mercenary force picked up their fallen leader and departed quietly.

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Lord Uther arrived a few hours later, while the castle's mercenary garrison was still clearing away the few fallen bodies and trying to decide what to do with the charred remains of the ballista. Nils was still in his coma, but Ninian assured them that he would still be okay in the morning.

Hector, almost fully healed and back on his feet, greeted him and was greeted with a hug that looked like it would shatter every one of Ceniro's bones. Both were big men, dressed in heavy armour, and they looked very similar, although Uther looked to be in his mid-thirties.

"So you're alive after all," Uther said, deadpan. "Another day and I would have arranged a funeral rite."

Hector had the grace to look sheepish. "My apologies. We've been a little busy."

Uther's face fell. "Yes… Leila's final report and Matthew's follow-up covered much." He turned to Eliwood. "Eliwood. I am sorry about Lord Elbert. I was powerless to help."

"No…" Eliwood murmured. "Nothing could have been done. More importantly, what do you know about Nergal?"

"Only what has been reported to me: that he appeared a year ago and took control of the Black Fang. Then he ensnared Laus in a plot of rebellion against Ostia. I can't see what he's after…"

"He wants to bring back dragons," Hector said bluntly. "Take their power and rule the world with it."

Uther's face went blank. "Bring back… dragons? Can that be done?"

"Let me explain," Eliwood said quickly.

Uther listened to their story carefully, and then dismissed them to consider what they had said.

"He believes us, right?" Lyn said. "It's pretty far-fetched…"

"Oh, he believes us," Hector said. "The question is… will anyone else believe us, until dragons are actually seen in our skies? And by then it would be too late. It's even got him brooding about it, and he's a firm believer in quick decisions."

"I wonder what will happen next?" Eliwood said. "Ideally, we could bring all the lands and peoples together to prepare to fight as one. It would be a return to the unity of humanity during the Scouring."

"Like he said, they won't believe us, though. We have to stop this now, before Nergal can succeed," Lyn said. "There is no other option; we're the only ones who know enough to take action."

"Let's see if my brother's ready to talk to us," Hector said. "Ninian, you're joining us, right? You're probably the most important person in all this."

"Y-yes, I will join you," Ninian said.

"I have decided," Uther said, when they entered his room. "And yet, I would rather not place this burden on your shoulders alone… You should have the support of the united Lycian League, but I do not see that happening in the near future. I see no choice. Eliwood, Lyndis, you are also resolved to continue on?"

"We are," Eliwood said. "We're prepared. Any one of our followers is free to leave at any time, yet they've stayed with us this far."

"I'm definitely staying," Lyn said. "I hate sitting back, doing nothing, letting others do it for me."

"How unconventional," Uther commented, earning him a slightly startled look from Lyn, which he ignored. "And you, young Ceniro? My brother and his friends are in your debt. Are you staying with them?"

"Yes," Ceniro said, trying not to sound nervous. "I may not do much besides yell at them, but I think it's been helpful so far."

"You've been more than helpful, shut up," Hector said. "We would have lost today without you. And me."

"I see," Uther said. "Thank you. Keep them safe. I will aid you as much as I can. Good luck to you."

"Brother, there is one more person you should meet," Hector said. "This is Ninian, the girl we told you about."

"I-it's an honour to meet you, Marquess Ostia," Ninian stammered.

"My brother tells me you possess a special power," Uther said. "If that is the case, can you tell me where this Nergal is now?"

Ninian closed her eyes as if thinking deeply. "He is… very far east. Very, very far."

"That's not Bern, is it?" Hector said.

"If he wins over the King of Bern, there will be great trouble," Uther said. "Bern is extremely militant as it is…"

"Perhaps he's just gone back to the Black Fang headquarters?" Eliwood suggested. "They're in Bern, aren't they? My father… my father greatly wounded him. He must need somewhere to recover."

"He is… very weak," Ninian said. "If we act now…" she opened her eyes. "Whatever his other reasons for being in Bern, Lord Eliwood speaks truly about his recovery."

"What can we do, though?" Lyn said. "We could go assault the Black Fang headquarters, but…"

"Actually," Uther said, "go to Missur."

"But that's the wrong direction!" Hector cried, and winced as he strained his side.

"You may find aid in the Nabata Desert… I think you must meet the living legend." He frowned at Hector. "What happened to you?"

"I fought a duel today, and some of my injuries are still healing," Hector grumbled. "What do you mean, 'living legend'? Do you know something we don't?"

"Not more than you've told me," Uther said evasively. "More importantly, I need to have words with your tactician."

"Y-yes?" Ceniro said, startled. He had thought Uther was done with him and had retreated to the corner.

Uther looked him up and down. "Why aren't you wearing armour?"

Ceniro fidgeted nervously with the hem of his tunic. "Because if I need armour, I'm too close to combat anyway. Sir. I can't fight."

"He's not terrible at staff fighting," Lyn said helpfully, "but he's not supposed to be in combat, no. He's not the only one in the army who isn't supposed to be in combat, though."

Uther considered this. "It's not unheard of, but most tacticians in Ostia wear at least some armour. Take up your staff and I will show you why."

Ceniro warily pulled his staff from his back and faced the marquess.

Who kicked him in the crotch before he could react.

Ceniro took it like a man and crumpled to the flagstones, a squeaky little whine escaping his throat as he tried to retain some form of sanity. His dignity was long gone.

"Um." Hector sounded like he was trying to decide whether to laugh or be angry.

Eliwood was silent, but Lyn was not. "Why would you do that? You really are just as terrible as Hector, you know that?"

There was a sound of shifting armour, as if Uther had shrugged. "He needs armour. A chestplate at the very least. Get him some."

"You didn't even attack him in the chest! Should we get some for Ninian and Nils, too?" Lyn asked sarcastically.

"That would be a good idea," Uther replied. "If you truly want to keep them alive, yes. I'm not going to suggest it for you Sacaeans, as you do your own thing and it works for you. But the others, yes."

"What about Matthew and Legault?" Eliwood asked. "They don't seem to wear armour…"

Hector coughed. "Matthew's always wearing armour. You didn't know?"

"No…?"

"Matthew! Come here!"

Ceniro managed to open his eyes and sit up, finally. "By Roland's bloody eyes, I wish that never happened."

"You and me both, son," Uther said, and Hector rolled his eyes. Matthew distracted them from whatever comment Hector was going to make.

"You called, my lord?"

"Yeah, take off your shirt."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Uther just deprived Ceniro of descendants to make a point about armour. Show 'em what you got."

Matthew glanced at where Ceniro sat protecting himself, sighed, and undid the clasps on his tight-fitting green shirt, revealing a layer of fine chain mail over leather. "I know Legault has a similar set up; I asked."

"You actually asked?" Hector said. "You didn't just, like, sneak a-"

"Young master," Matthew said, reprovingly, and Hector grinned.

"All right," Ceniro said. "I will get armour. When we can."

"Attaboy," Hector said, and clouted him on the shoulder in a friendly way. Ceniro staggered sideways into Lyn, who rolled her eyes.

"All right, stop abusing the tactician. I think it's bedtime for certain folk…" She glared at Hector, who stared back unrepentantly.

"I agree," Eliwood said. "Come, Hector. Are you staying the night, Lord Uther?"

"I think I must," Uther said, glancing at the sun that hovered low in the sky. "Besides, I have not yet spoken to Hector enough."

Hector bowed, a little sarcastically. "I apologize for my over-long visit. …Is now a good time?"

"Now is fine. Good night, Eliwood, Lyndis, Ceniro, Ninian."


	2. Chapter 2: Living Legend

Chapter 2: Living Legend

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"You know what's weird?" Hector said the next day, as they headed west again, passing through the Ryerde Canton on their way to the Nabata Desert. They would have to traverse a mountain range to get into the desert, and then they would have to skirt the southern edge to get to Missur, the most south-western edge of the continent. Altogether, the journey would take about a week, and they still had no idea who or what they were looking for. But Hector trusted his brother, and Eliwood trusted Hector, so off they went.

"What?" Lyn asked.

"Forgive me if this comes off as insensitive…"

"Like that ever happens," she kept teasing him.

"Woman! Let me finish! …Like I was saying… Eliwood, last night my brother referred to you as Marquess Pherae. And that… well, I had forgotten, and that really startled me into realizing it. You _are_ Marquess Pherae, Eliwood."

"Um… I guess?" Eliwood said, sounding equally startled. "I didn't think about it."

"You're probably the youngest Marquess in a while," Hector said. "Definitely currently active, and probably the youngest to assume the title this generation…"

"Well, I'm twenty-one," Eliwood reminded him. "Same as you. And actually my father assumed his title at the age of twenty, so…"

"Hm. I think my observation still stands. Anyway, sorry, just wanted to point that out."

"It's all right," Eliwood said. "I'll use my rank if I have to, but I think it probably won't come up. It's likely that we're less lords and ladies with our retinues on this journey, and more soldiers on a mission."

They made it to the border and the mountain passes without incident, and they were not attacked by bandits, which Ceniro found odd, but Hector pointed out that they were a fairly formidable group and common bandits were unlikely to bother them.

So they came to the Nabata Desert and began the long, hot trek across. At least Marquess Ostia had given them ample funds for supplies, and they were adequately nourished and hydrated. Still, it was uncomfortable at best, and hellish at worst.

"We probably… shouldn't have done this… in the middle of summer," Hector panted, climbing to the top of yet another dune. Sweat was streaming down his face, but no one wearing armour wanted to take it off in case they were attacked. Behind him, the cavalry struggled ankle-deep in the loose sand. In some places, the sand was compacted and firm, and they could ride across easily. But here in the dunes was a different matter.

Most of them were at least secretly jealous of the fliers – the two pegasus knights and the wyvern knight soared easily over their heads, keeping an eye on the surrounding terrain, especially now that the farseer was kaput. Ceniro forbade them to take on extra riders, so they would not overexert themselves, though the wyvern – Hyperion – smelled odd at the best of times and downright stank in the heat, so no one wanted to ride with him anyway. Heath shrugged and said he was used to it.

The second day in, Nils began to show signs of heat stroke. "So hot…" he moaned as he stumbled through the sand next to Lyn. "I feel like I'm going to die…"

"You're not going to die, Nils," she said kindly but firmly. "Here, have some more water. Did you originally come from a cold climate? I know Florina's not very happy about this heat, either."

"No one is," Hector said, slogging along behind them. "But yeah, you're looking pretty out of it. You want me to carry you?"

"Huh?" Nils said stupidly, staring at Hector with slackened jaw and wide, slightly unfocused crimson eyes.

Hector looked askance at that. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Such kindness from you surprised me, Lord Hector," Nils said. "Am… am I dreaming? Do I have a fever?" He felt his forehead.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hector asked. "I just don't want you to collapse again. Come on." He held out his hand.

"Hector, normally you're so gruff. No wonder he's confused. It's all right, Nils, let him help you," said Lyn.

"Or you could ride with Merlinus?" Ceniro suggested.

"No, I'm good," Nils said. "I'm sorry to complain… I know everyone here is having trouble…"

"Do as you're told, boy!" Hector barked, and before Nils had time to do more than squawk in protest, he had scooped him up and placed him on his shoulders.

"Ahhhh!" Nils wailed, trying to find somewhere to hold on to. Hector had a firm hold of his legs, but he wobbled for a moment before finding his balance. "I-I'm going to fall-!"

"No, you're not," Ceniro said. "You're fine. How's Ninian doing?"

"Shh," Lyn said, and pointed surreptitiously. "Eliwood's taking care of her." Indeed, the young lord was supporting Ninian as they walked together some distance away.

"So who or what do you think the 'living legend' is?" Ceniro asked, changing the subject entirely before Nils could get irritated with Eliwood again.

"I'm sure I have no idea," Hector grunted. "Or why my brother told us to journey through this godsforsaken land… And we have another two days of this, too, before we get to Missur."

"I wonder, might we journey more by night and rest by day?" Lyn asked. "It might be cooler."

"It might, but who's going to sleep in this heat?" Ceniro said.

"Lady Lyn, does it get hot in Sacae in the summer?" Nils asked.

"It gets pretty warm, but not like this," Lyn said. "The grasses will get dry, and sometimes they'll crackle under the horses' hooves. Or sometimes a lightening storm will start a fire, and then everyone will gather in the village and protect the village from the fire. But afterwards, the plains quickly renew themselves."

"What about the wandering hunters?" Ceniro asked.

"They come in, too," Lyn said. "If they can make it in time. Every year, a couple are lost. But that's the way of the world there."

"You miss it, don't you," Hector said.

"Yes, very much. When I joined Ceniro last year, I had no idea I would be going so far away."

"Sorry," Ceniro said contritely. "I didn't know either."

"Then why are you apologizing?" Lyn said crossly. "It's all Kent and Sain's fault, not yours. And anyway, I don't regret going, I just miss home. But it was the right thing to do. I've learned so much."

"Would you go back one day?" Hector asked.

"Probably. I have no wish to inherit the Caelin title. Hector, what happens when there a marquess has no heir?"

"Hmm." Hector adjusted Nils' weight and thought. "I could be wrong, but I think Ostia promotes the steward to de-facto ruler of the canton, until a successor can be chosen. And they're usually chosen from extended family – with all the intermarrying around Lycia and even Etruria and Bern, a suitable noble can usually be found. Ostia doesn't normally have to interfere for more than a year. I don't know Marquess Caelin's extended family tree, so I couldn't tell you who you might see on the throne."

"Not that I would know them anyway," Lyn said, laughing. "Well, that is good to know. I never really asked while I was in Caelin. I thought it would be… rude."

"Well, now you know. But even if you leave permanently, don't leave forever," Hector said. "Have you ever been to Ostia?"

"No, I've only been briefly to Araphen – it did not go well, did it, Ceniro – and Khathelet."

"Well, you should come visit Ostia sometime. Eliwood would say the same about Pherae."

"Or Santaruz," Ceniro said. "As your token Santaruz citizen…"

"You are?" Hector said. "Oh, wait, I knew that. Yep, the southern part of Lycia is possibly even prettier than the middle part. Certainly prettier than Ostia, but Ostia has its own benefits." He grinned.

"And just what would those be, Lord Hector?" Lyn asked suspiciously.

"Well, lots of pretty little ponces to beat up," Hector said. "I'm kidding! Don't hurt me when I'm carrying the kid. I mean, it's true – there are a lot of minor nobles who like to fight but don't know how. And Ostia does have the largest army and is the richest canton. But… uh, you like natural attractions, don't you? We have really nice mountains."

"Mountains?" Lyn asked. "There are mountains between Sacae and Bern… the Lorca were near them…"

"Well… I haven't seen those. But these mountains are the equal of any you'll see in Bern, believe me. They're majestic."

"That's very true," Ceniro said. "Especially in the winter, when they turn into jagged white daggers. And then to see the pegasus knight mercenaries doing manoeuvres over them is spectacular."

"I thought you hadn't seen pegasus knight wings in action until you went to Ilia last winter?" Lyn said.

"Um, I kind of lied. But I still wanted to see them in Ilia, because it's very different when you're training away from home, isn't it?"

"Well, you know what I'm talking about," Hector said. "Have you been up Tanquet Pass?"

"Yes! One of the training exercises for the student tacticians went up there, and one time I went on spring break. It's amazing – the lake there is incredibly beautiful, spring or winter."

"I'm interested now," Lyn said. "I will come and visit Pherae, Santaruz, and Ostia."

"I'll hold you to that," Hector said. "Are you interested, Nils?"

"It does sound nice," Nils said. "We'll see."

"What is it you and your sister do, anyway? You just travel around a lot and hope Nergal doesn't catch you?"

"Pretty much," Nils said. "It might not be much of a plan, but it was all we had until we began to meet you. We… were all alone for many years, and no one really cared about us until we met Lady Lyn and Lord Eliwood and their friends last year."

"I see," Lyn said.

"It sounds… lonely," Ceniro said. "I wander because I like it, but if I was being hunted… I wonder how much I would like it then…"

"It's not that lonely," Nils said. "We have each other. You're the odd one – you go by yourself, and you're still alive despite all the bandits and other dangers…"

"Well, I look too much like a vagabond to be worth the trouble," Ceniro said. "Occasionally they figure that a vagabond won't be missed, and they try to take me on… but I've been lucky so far. Lyn saved me, too, you know."

"Damn," Hector said. "You just go around saving everyone, woman?"

"I certainly do," Lyn said. "I'll save you sometime, you just wait and see. I mean, I have to repay you and Eliwood for coming to Caelin's defense a couple weeks ago."

"Ah, don't worry about that… Like he said, it was kind of our fault anyway."

"No it wasn't."

"Don't be so stubborn."

"That's one of my best qualities, so no."

"But it's one of my qualities, too!"

"Um," Nils broke in to their bickering. "There's a disturbance nearby…"

"Where?" Ceniro asked, and looked around for the pegasus knights. They were flying over to the east and to the rear of the formation, but Nils was looking south and west, in the opposite direction.

Eliwood and Ninian, already at the top of the dune ahead of them, turned to call to them. "There's a man – looks like a lord – surrounded by bandits in the distance."

"Oh yeah?" Hector said. "I'm going to set you down, okay, Nils?"

"Okay," Nils said. "If I feel bad again I'll go find Merlinus."

"He's going to be attacked," Ceniro said as they reached the top of the dune to stand beside Eliwood and Ninian. "Probably. We should help. Probably." The lord was dressed in an elegant violet jacket and lavender cloak; his hood was pulled over his head to protect him from the sun, which glittered off a silver pauldron on his right shoulder. His stance was easy and calm, although he was vastly outnumbered and surrounded.

"Let's get over there!" Lyn cried. "I dislike seeing someone facing overwhelming odds!"

"Hold on, Lyn! I'm going with you!" Hector yelled, as she began to skip down the other, steeper side of the dune. He began to follow her, kicking up a large cloud of sand as he skidded somewhat clumsily after her.

"Wait for me!" Eliwood cried, coming down the dune somewhat more carefully.

Ceniro looked at Ninian and Nils. "Unbelievable," Nils said. "Where do they get that energy?"

"What will you do?" Ninian asked Ceniro.

"I have a really good view from over here," Ceniro said. "I think I might stay here instead of getting in the thick of it. Hold on… You two had better – wait, never mind, Nils, you wait here. Ninian, we're going to need your dances today, for sure." He turned to the rest of the army. "Heyyyy! Cavalry, halt here and protect Nils and Merlinus. Magic users, swordsmen, axemen, get up here right away! There are bandits attacking a noble and our leaders have already gone to assist and need back-up! These look like strong bandits, so watch yourselves and your footing!"

The army went from ambling and idly chatting to urgent movement in a moment. "Fiora, can you get me an aerial extraction for the noble?"

"Absolutely. Florina, Heath! Here's what we do to make this successful…"

The sky grew dark, and a massive thunderbolt cracked down in the middle of the ring of bandits.

"Wow," Ceniro said. "I guess he's not defenceless, then! Ninian, go assist Raven – he needs the boost to catch up to Lucius. Eliwood! Lyn! Hector! You've got their attention! Hold for thirty seconds, and then move north! Try to draw as many of the axe-wielders as possible…"

"Ceniro!" Heath called. "They have archers; Fiora isn't sure about extraction."

"They could shoot him too, though," Ceniro said. "Uh… We all need to get closer. Erk! Can I get you to start distracting the archers?"

The battle was strange, unstable. Ceniro felt his commands were being sucked into the dry air, but he wasn't worried so much about his voice as he was that they wouldn't be able to hear him and his carefully laid battle plans would go awry.

With that in mind, he built a looser plan than usual and gave fewer orders, letting his people figure out how to conduct themselves in general. He wasn't really comfortable with that, since the bandits were unusually many and strong, but trying to be intricate under these conditions could spell disaster.

He saw Eliwood get close to the lord in the confusion of the bandits, and speak to him; even at that great distance, Eliwood looked confused and Ceniro saw the other lord laugh. And then the tactician was distracted by a newcomer, whom Hector discovered, a massive man with an equally huge axe who seemed to be on their side. He let the new man do whatever he wanted.

The lord was coming towards him, occasionally lifting his hand and sending a blast of Elfire at an unfortunate bandit. "Ceniro!"

And suddenly Ceniro recognized him, grey eyes twinkling cheerfully under the hood, and a broad smile on his lips. "Lord Pent!"

"It's just Pent to you, remember?" Pent said, stopping at the foot of his dune. "Fancy seeing you here! Nice weather, isn't it? How's the farseer?"

"It just stopped working a few days ago," Ceniro said, and grimaced. "Otherwise, I'd be using it here. But for now, can you help us mop up the last few bandits?"

"Sure. I figured I would anyway. The leaders are sure to be difficult, though."

"I was thinking, perhaps we could distract that one with the bow and sneak someone in close to take them out at close quarters?"

"I can be your distraction?"

"Thanks, I was hoping you would say that. Eliwood! Pent will provide a distraction to allow you to get close to that one bandit. Should things get sticky, Heath will be there to get you out quickly."

"And the other bandit?" Hector asked.

"I'm not sure whether I just want to shower him in arrows and magic, or have Matthew and Legault take him out very quietly."

"Go with magic and arrows," Pent called over his shoulder. "Less dangerous for all involved."

"You don't know Matthew and Legault," Ceniro called back, and Pent waved a hand dismissively. "But let's go with that. Serra, Priscilla, you've started learning spells, right? Okay, you come join Erk, Lucius, and Canas over here. Wil, Rebecca, Rath, go over there. Hector! You and Lyn are the bait!"

"Why do I gotta be the bait!" Hector complained.

"Because you have massive plates of steel strapped to your body, and I have very good reflexes," Lyn told him. "Come on. If we're good, our tactician might let us get a couple of hits in before that blaggard dies."

"She's always right," Hector grumbled to himself as he followed her.

.

"So what are you doing here in Nabata?" Ceniro asked once they had reconvened about fifteen minutes later, and Serra and Priscilla had gone back to their regular healing duties. Eliwood had been very valiant in facing the first bandit lord, but had taken a nasty whack in the head from the bandit's dying flail with his bow. Pent had healed him on the spot, but there were plenty of other injuries of varying sizes among the others.

"I could ask you the same thing," Pent said. "Thank you for coming to my assistance, by the way. I was wondering if I could take them all on by myself."

"I think you could have," Ceniro said. "However, this way was probably less stressful for you."

"Much. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ceniro said. "I guess you've already met, but let me introduce you to Lord Eliwood of Pherae, Lady Lyndis of Caelin, and Lord Hector of Ostia. Guys, this is Lord Pent, umm, Count Reglay of Etruria."

"So formal," Lyn teased him. "So this is your previous employer, hmm?"

"You mentioned me," Pent said, smiling. "I'm flattered."

"Well… my resume's still really short. I couldn't not mention you, really. And then… there's all those people. Fiora's here, Erk's here, Priscilla's here… all these people are here for different reasons…"

"Oh, yes, I did see Fiora. I'm glad. I have to speak to her once you're done with me."

"Of course," Eliwood said. "Let me say how pleased I am to meet you, Lord Pent."

"Likewise," Pent said. "But it's just Pent. We're not at court. So why are you all here for different reasons?"

"It's a bit of a story," Eliwood said. "But the immediate reason is that Marquess Ostia told us to head to Missur to meet a… 'living legend'."

"Did he."

"It sounds funny, I know…"

"No, not at all. I think I may know what you are talking about." Pent paused, zoned out slightly, and laughed to himself. "'Living legend', hey? That's a good way to put it."

"You know what he was talking about?" Hector asked. "Because we haven't a clue."

"Yes, I suppose I do. I'll take you there!"

"Really?" Lyn asked. "Oh, that would be splendid."

"It's the least I could do," Pent said. "Hawkeye!"

The blonde giant whom Hector had bumped into rose and came forward with a quiet, powerful grace. "Hello, Pent. Did you find it?"

"Yes," Pent said, and smiled broadly. "Just as I thought, it's spectacular. Ladies, gentlemen, this is my escort for the day, the desert chieftain Hawkeye."

Hawkeye glanced at the sky. "If we intend to be back before nightfall, we should make haste."

"Oh… okay," Eliwood said, also glancing at the sky. The sun was still quite high in the sky, though perhaps leaning over to the west.

"Ceniro, we'll be heading in a south-westerly direction for a few hours. I'm going to go talk with Erk and Priscilla and Fiora, if you don't mind."

"That's fine," Ceniro said. "I'll get Hector to yell if there's trouble."

"Me?" Hector asked. "I know I yell a lot, but…"

"My voice is a little bit sore," Ceniro said. While tacticians were trained in the Ostia Academy how to shout orders without losing voice, they hadn't really compensated for the desert.

"I won't leave without taking a look at your farseer," Pent said. "Don't worry. I hope it served you well until it died?"

"Yes, very much. And I don't mind being without it, it just makes it much easier while spread across the landscape…"

"Well, yes, that was why I made it. I'll see you later, though."

The three lords look appreciatively at Ceniro as Pent strode away in search of his student, former charge, and employee. "You have good taste in employers," Lyn said. "And he doesn't stand on ceremony. I like that."

"I knew Lord Pent was rumoured to be kind, though eccentric," Eliwood said. "But he seems the exact kind of nobleman I would like to be."

"He's wonderful," Ceniro said. "It's great to see him again. I wonder if he could be convinced to come with us."

"I guess that depends what he was doing here in the first place," Hector said. "But it's good we got to help him out a bit."

"If he does come with us, we'll see some fireworks," Ceniro said enthusiastically.

"I do believe you're starstruck," Lyn teased. "That job you took last year with him must have been some job, huh?"

"Ehhhh…" Ceniro blushed. "…Yes?"

They laughed at him, and after a moment, he joined in.

.

Several hours later, the sun was much lower in the sky, and neither Hawkeye nor Pent had told them to change direction.

"There's just more sand…" Hector grumbled.

"Oh, get over it," Lyn said. "You've had two days of it already, you should be used to it by now."

"Well, I'm not. So… wah!"

"What is- ahhh!" Lyn squeaked as she, too, began sinking into the sand.

"Lyn! Hector!" Ceniro and Eliwood jumped forward, though what they could do, Ceniro wasn't sure. All Ceniro knew was that he needed to grab Lyn before she vanished.

"What in blazes!?" Eliwood exclaimed as he reached for Hector's hand.

They were sinking remarkably quickly through the sand, almost as if they were being pulled into it…

When Ceniro came to, he saw only blackness. It felt warm and close, and full of the sounds of gentle breathing.

He was lying on something that didn't feel like sand. He shifted and whatever he was lying on gave a masculine grunt. "Eliwood?"

"Unnhhh…" Eliwood groaned. "Ow, ow, ow… I think I hit my head. Where are we? Where is everyone?"

"I don't know… but it sounds like there are more people around here. Maybe they're from our group."

"Ceniro? Eliwood?"

"Nils?" Eliwood called. "Are you there?" Ceniro felt him slowly begin to crawl forward.

Suddenly, a flame flickered into being to Ceniro's left, and they turned – and squeezed their eyes shut, blinded.

"Sorry," Pent's voice said. "I just thought we might need a bit of light. Are you all right?"

"I think we're fine," Ceniro said. "What about the rest of these – oh dear."

Pent was bending over Kent's prone form. "I don't think any of your friends are dead, just oxygen deprived from the sand." He felt around for his healing staff. "Hmm, I should have brought the other one as well. Can't call Louise and tell her we'll be late for dinner…"

Ceniro rolled Rebecca onto her side so she could breathe more easily. "C'mon, Rebecca, wake up."

"I'm glad we're together, at least," Nils said. "It was kind of scary…"

"Nils, you didn't come after us, did you?"

"No, there were other sand traps."

"Where's Lyn and Hector?" Ceniro asked. "They should be close by…"

"I don't see them," Pent said.

"I think they're okay," Nils said, his eyes squeezed shut. "They're nearby. Everyone's nearby, some overhead a long way, and some in… rooms beside us. No one's dead, thank goodness."

"What is this place?" Eliwood asked. "It looks… old."

"I don't know," Pent said. "I've never seen anything like this before. It's… bleak. Carved of haunted memories, perhaps…"

"Huh?" Nils said. "Wait… I feel something strange in the air. Something unsettling."

Pent's little flame flickered out. "Uh oh."

"Did your magic-"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"We faced something like this on Valor," Eliwood said. "A disquieting feeling, and then our magic stopped working."

"I'm afraid I won't be much use to you, then," Pent said. "But I assume this is why the farseer stopped working. It's a magic seal. I'm not entirely certain how to explain it. It's…someone whose very presence nullifies all magic."

"I guessed as much," Ceniro said. "About the farseer, anyway. Someone else guessed about the magic seal."

"But why would such a person be here now?" Eliwood asked.

Ceniro heard a scraping noise, and a new flame lit, this one attached to a physical torch illuminating Matthew's dirty face. "Hey, my lords."

"Matthew, you are a lifesaver," Ceniro said.

"I know, I know. But I only have one, so be careful with it," Matthew said, and handed it to Ceniro.

"I'll be careful," Ceniro said. "Thank you."

"I couldn't say why the magic seal is here, or why he brought us to this place…" Pent said to Eliwood. "But we are being watched. We should wake up our companions quickly."

"Hang on," Nils said. "Something's happening… He's called some friends. They are very powerful."

"If we defeat the magic seal, can we leave this place?" Eliwood asked.

"Perhaps," Pent said.

"Then we fight!" Eliwood cried, and Kent grunted and stirred. "If they have strength, then we'll match their strength and challenge them! We don't have time for this!"

"I'll do my best to help you," Ceniro said. "But I don't know how much help I'll be… I'll just hold the light."

"Eliwood?" they heard faintly through a crack in the wall. "Eliwood, are you there?"

"I'm here!" Eliwood called back. "Hector, is that you?"

"Yeah. Lyn's here, Hawkeye's here, Ninian's here. A bunch of people are here. Listen, the magic nullifier is back-"

"We know," Eliwood said.

"And we think if we kill him, we can get out of here, so that's what we're going to do. Are you all right? Think we can find a way through to each other?"

"We're all right," Eliwood said. "We'll try to join up, and then take him down together. All right?'

"All right. See you soon."

"And don't get killed!" Lyn's muffled voice said. "Or I'll come find you and kick you!"

"As my lady threatens," Eliwood said, smiling.

"Didn't you tell me once that you liked Lady Lyn?" Pent asked Ceniro. "Somehow I gathered that. And I can see why. What a brave young woman."

"Ah… let's just focus on getting out of here for now," Ceniro said, helping Guy to his feet. Bartre needed no helping.

Soon, their little group – about a third of the army – was assembled, in mostly one piece.

"You stay with me, Nils," Ceniro said. "I don't know if this guy is after you, too, but since I have nothing else to offer here, I'll be your last line of defence."

"Sounds good," Nils chirped, smiling up at him.

"And me too," Pent said. "Without my magic, I don't have much to offer except moral support."

"I'll go first, shall I?" Matthew said.

"Yes, please," Ceniro said. He lined up their group in a way that would hopefully help them not be ambushed, and they set off in the only direction they could.

They hadn't gone far when Matthew stopped. "Whoa, look out, guys… -Look out!"

Pebbles were falling from the ceiling, but when he shouted, a whole pile of rock came crashing down in front of them.

"He's watching," Nils said, his eyes shining eerily in the torchlight. "He's toying with us."

"I can't say I like that idea," Eliwood said. "This is no game. Which way do we go now?"

Matthew pointed to the right, where a section of wall had fallen away, revealing a new passage.

"So it's a maze, is it?" Pent said. "One where he controls our direction. I hardly think that's fair."

"Shh," Matthew hissed. "I hear a thing."

And a berserker loomed out of the gloom, charging at them. Matthew dove out of the way, and Eliwood was left to face him full-on. But his reflexes were quick, and before the berserker swung his huge axe down on his head, his rapier was plunged halfway into his opponent's chest. He sidestepped as man and axe fell to the floor, though the edge of his cloak was caught and torn.

"Nicely done," Pent said.

"Thank you," Eliwood answered, panting a little. "Are there any more?"

For answer, two arrows suddenly shot past him, and Rebecca's life was only spared as she had stumbled at that exact moment. Everyone scattered to take cover by the walls.

"We can't stay here," Ceniro said. "We're going to have to charge them, which means… Kent, Bartre, Matthew. Rebecca, return fire."

"But I can't see them-"

"I know, just stop shooting once you can't see our people anymore." He himself moved forward to give their friends some light.

Bartre snarled as he barrelled down the centre of the corridor, with Kent on his right and Matthew on his left. There were two archers and a man in rough heavy armour waiting for them. "Bartre! Take the armour! Kent, Matthew, archers! Everyone else, move up, now!"

The enemy were few, but they were dangerous. They fought without speaking, and they were almost as good as Eliwood's group.

Almost. With the archers unable to fire down the hall, the rest of the group was able to close and assist in taking them down. When finally they had succeeded, Ceniro took stock of the situation. Bartre had an arrow in his arm and a lance gash on his leg, and Matthew was holding his side as if he had broken a rib or two. Rebecca moved to Bartre and began helping him bind up his injuries the old-fashioned way.

"Nils, how close is the magic seal?" Ceniro asked. "We're not going to last long if we can't heal our injuries…"

"Close… but I don't know where the tunnel goes. He'll probably try to weaken us even more before he lets us get close to him."

"Well, then, come on. Eliwood's right. Kent, can you take the torch? Matthew, come back here with Pent and me."

"Yes, sir."

"I can still fight," Matthew protested. "And scout."

"Guy can take your place. A broken rib will cost you and I'd rather not risk it until we have no other choice."

"But if you keep a few of us healthy and uninjured-"

"We're not arguing about this now," Ceniro said, and Matthew blinked and shut up.

They moved swiftly through the tunnels for a bit, until something detached from the wall behind them.

"Ceniro!" Pent cried, pushing him and Nils forward. "Agh…"

Ceniro whirled to see a tall thin man with a katana standing over Pent, now sprawled on the floor and bleeding heavily. "Pent!"

A clash of steel from the other side told him that Guy and Eliwood were now engaged with another swordsman. The one in front of him lunged forward, and Ceniro stumbled back, taking Nils with him – they wouldn't be able to avoid this blow…

Matthew got in the way, parrying with his long knife, grunting under the exertion.

"Bartre, stay back," Ceniro gasped from where he was plastered against the wall, Nils under his arm. "Kent, a little help here!"

"One moment," Kent said.

"We don't have a moment!"

But it was Guy who came dancing out of the darkness, his own katana carving a bright flash in the torchlight, just in time to save Matthew from losing an arm. The two swordmasters bounced off each other, locked in a brilliant display of martial ability. Or it would have been if Ceniro weren't terrified for Guy's life.

Rebecca's arrow caught the enemy in the upper chest, and he immediately turned and fled into the darkness. Guy pursued him.

"Wait- Guy!"

Guy came back a moment later, his sword bloodied. "Couldn't let him get away; he might be back later."

"Oh. All right." Ceniro knelt beside Pent. "Pent, are you all right?"

"Nnnggg…" Pent groaned. "Thought it would be best to play dead. Hurts like blazes, though…"

"We'll get you out of here, don't worry," Ceniro said, ripping up his own cloak for bandages. "Louise would be so mad at me if I let anything happen to you."

"Just glad I could help you," Pent said. "Agh! Careful- I know you're being careful."

"Come on," Ceniro said, wrapping the bandages around his friend tightly. "Can you stand?"

"Yes, I think so. I'll have to lean on you for a bit, though…"

"No problem. Up you get." Ceniro was shorter than Pent, but fortunately the lord wasn't terribly heavy for his height. "Guy, can you stay back here with us? Matthew, you're back in front."

"Aye," Matthew said, and grinned.

Once again, they moved as fast as they could through the tunnels for a pace. Pent hobbled along as fast as he could, gritting his teeth uncomplainingly, but Ceniro knew they were going a lot slower. "Pent, you didn't bring any healing potions when you set out today?"

"Ah… no. Foolish of me, I know, but I had my staff, and thought I was set…"

"Right, yes, of course. Perhaps our enemies will have some…"

A trio of heavily armoured people stepped into their path – two men and a woman. The fighters in the group sprang into action without even being told, which pleased Ceniro.

"You don't micromanage as much as you used to?" Pent asked, where he waited on Ceniro's shoulder. His bandages were starting to bleed through and Ceniro glanced at them, worried.

"Not here," Ceniro said. "There's only so much space. They can handle themselves, they don't need me distracting them."

"Hm. But when you do micromanage, you're such an artist about it."

Ceniro laughed. "Thanks. Maybe next time."

The generals went down, one at a time, and Matthew bent over them before bounding back to Ceniro, Pent, and Nils with a spring that belied his rib.

"Here," he said, handing him a small blue flask. "Good timing, huh?"

"Oh, perfect," Ceniro said in relief.

Pent took it. "I'll leave enough for the rest of you."

"You take it until your bleeding stops," Ceniro said sternly.

Pent smiled and drank.

There was enough left for perhaps one person to heal an injury. Bartre waved it off, and Kent politely declined, so Matthew took it. "Ah, much better. Now I can once again fully assist you, young masters."

"So you don't only call Hector that?"

"It annoys him no end when I do, which is why I do," Matthew admitted. "But you are younger than I am…"

"Not by that much, surely," Pent said, no longer leaning on Ceniro. "And I do believe I'm older than you, unless you're already over thirty-three."

"Ah, no," Matthew said. "But the rest of these children…"

"Children?" bellowed Bartre. "Come, I shall show you we are not children!"

"Children take offense so easily," Matthew whispered to Ceniro. "Hence, Master Nils and Miss Rebecca are not children." Nils snorted, but when Matthew turned back to go to the front beside Eliwood, he shook with silent laughter.

Now that Pent could move easily again, they journeyed quicker, and it seemed no time at all before they were entering a large, circular chamber.

In the centre of the chamber stood a hunched, emaciated figure in a red robe. All around the walls were large, tough-looking soldiers armed with various weapons.

"Right!" came a shout across the room. "Now what would Ceniro do? Get to it!" Hector, brandishing an axe and a torch, was entering the room from the other side.

"I'm on the swordsman!" Lyn cried.

"I'm right behind you, Lady Lyn!" Sain said. Hawkeye said nothing, but went in the opposite direction from Lyn and Sain to take down a pair of archers with his great axe.

"Oh my gooosh, I wish I could be more help," Serra said. "Oh, hey, look! It's Eliwood!"

"Eliwood!" Hector said. "Let's beat these morons and get out of here!"

"Good to see you too, Hector. Agreed!"

The two lords advanced to the centre of the room while their allies took on the enemy soldiers. Ceniro called orders when he could, made sure that everyone was fighting in a fair match-up, but he was impressed by how well they were doing without his help.

"It seems Lord Hector has been observing you, and putting those observations to good use," Pent said.

"Yes, it seems so," Ceniro agreed. "I'm not sure how that makes me feel, actually!" He laughed, and Oswin and Dorcas co-ordinated their attacks on a general who otherwise would have been targeting them. Serra trotted over to join them.

"Are you as bored as I am?" she asked.

"No, not at all?" Ceniro said. "How are you bored?"

"Well, it's very nerve-wracking and all, being down here in the dark with bad guys jumping out at you all the time, you know? But I can't do anything, so I'm bored! I can't heal anyone, and I can't cast magic, so all I do is run around and try not to be a target! Although that's hard, because I'm so cute, the enemy can't take their eyes off of me… so I guess I'm being helpful in distracting them!"

"Ah, yes," Ceniro said, and the magic seal teleported away, having decided that dodging Hector's axe was more trouble than it was worth.

"Oh! Magic!" Serra squeaked. "Goodie!" She twirled her staff and pointed it at Pent, just as Pent snatched out his own and used it on Sain, who had just taken a lance to the arm. "Oh, you're not bleeding as badly as it looks. Lucky you!" She skipped off to go heal Bartre, raising her hand to blast a swordsman in the head with light magic as she went.

"She's quite something," Pent said. "That wouldn't be the same pink-haired cleric Erk was moaning about last year, would it?"

"The very same. But she's not as bad as she appears on first impression, really."

"I'm sure she isn't. Erk's just young and set in his ways. …There doesn't seem to be much for me to do here… She's taking care of the injuries, and your allies are taking care of the soldiers…"

"A pity," Ceniro said. "I'm looking forward to the time I can show them what you can do."

"I'm sure that time will be soon. But first we must compare notes."

"Right, the living legend."

"Well, look here, there's a staircase. Shall we head up?"

"No, let's wait for the others. Eliwood! Watch your back! Kent, Sain, would you escort Ninian over to us, please?"

Ninian and Nils embraced as the fighting came to a halt and Ceniro's group licked their wounds a little.

Eliwood came over to them, his eyes wide and disturbed. "What in the name of all that is decent was that? It has human form, but it's… It's not human!"

Pent shrugged, shaking his head slowly, but it was Ninian who answered. "…That was a creature of heresy. Its existence makes a ruin of nature's most basic laws."

"Hm? Ninian?" Eliwood hadn't expected her to answer, but was distracted by her presence. "Thank goodness you're safe."

"Thank you, Lord Eliwood… I am quite well. Thank you for taking care of Nils."

"…In this world, there are many mysterious things that fall beyond our realm of understanding," Pent said, and gestured to the staircase. "Come, let us leave this place. A living legend awaits us."

Hector insisted on leading the way out up the staircase, in case of further ambushes. But no one lay in wait for them, and they eventually emerged through a cunningly hidden cave entrance into the desert night.

"Ninian, Nils, are the rest of our group still around?" Ceniro asked.

"Yes, they're right over there," Ninian said, and pointed.

"Oh, they've made supper!" Nils said. "I'm hungry!"

"I guess we camp here for the night?" Ceniro said, looking at Pent.

The silver-haired lord nodded. "Yes, I think that would be fine. You'll have to set a careful watch – the bandits in these parts are fierce, as you found earlier today. Louise won't worry, and there's just no way we can travel the rest of the way tonight. Isn't that right, Hawkeye?"

"Pretty much," the warrior nodded.

.

The next day, they travelled again, but Hawkeye led them in a more direct westerly direction than they had been travelling before. After a few hours, they came to a low structure built of white stone in the midst of a small oasis. As they entered, Ceniro saw that it was only low because it was set deep in the ground, not because it was small.

Hawkeye led them along a broad passage, well lit with multi-coloured torches, to a wide room where an old man, in blue robes with long white hair and beard, was standing, reading a scroll. The sound of water flowed around them and it was blessedly cool after the heat of the desert.

There was a cry of joy, and Louise emerged from a side passage to hug Pent. "Oh my dearest! What happened, were you injured?" Pent's jacket was still bloodstained, though it was dried now.

"Nothing to worry about. As you can see, I had Ceniro with me."

"Oh, Ceniro! It is so good to see you again! But we can catch up later. For now, I believe your group wishes to speak to…"

"Welcome, children of Roland," the old man greeted Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn.


	3. Chapter 3: Four-Fanged Offense

Chapter 3: Four-Fanged Offense

.

"What are you talking about, old man?" Hector asked. "We're from Lycia. Most of us."

"Eliwood, I'm confused, too," Lyn said quietly.

"I think I understand," Eliwood said. "In the war of the Scouring, where humans and dragons fought, one of the Eight Legends who led the humans was Roland. He went on to found the country of Lycia."

"Oh, yes, that's right. In Sacae, we tell tales of Hanon, the horsewoman," Lyn said. "So that's why you called us 'children of Roland'?"

"That is correct, daughter of Hanon and Roland," the old man said. "I am Athos. Many choose to simply call me Archsage."

"What?" Eliwood said. "That's impossible. You can't be the same…"

"I am," the Archsage said, and his blue eyes twinkled at them.

"Archsage Athos was also one of the Eight Legends," Hector said. "If you really were him, old man… you'd have to be over a thousand years old."

"The world is full of mysteries. Solve one, and along comes another… Before I knew it, I'd grown distant from my fellow man."

"But a thousand years is a long time…" Lyn said.

Hector laughed suddenly. "'Living legend', indeed. Thanks, brother."

"I told you, did I not?" Pent said. "Still, how your brother knew of him, that is a mystery."

"I'll ask him next I see him," Hector said gaily. "So, we're here-"

"You are here because you want to stop Nergal, are you not?"

"Did Marquess Ostia send word?" Eliwood asked, confused.

"No, but I am aware of most things that happen in the world. However, knowledge is not enough for me to prevent disaster."

"Well, certainly not by sitting here, you aren't!" Hector said. "…Are you?"

"How do you plan to stop Nergal?" Athos asked instead.

"We really weren't sure," Eliwood said. "He… Nils told us he heals himself with… quintessence? And so even the most mortal wounds are not fatal to him, though he needs time to recover still. At this point, our plan was basically to try to cut off his support. We don't know how to fight him directly."

"Hmm. It is true, he is, like me, no longer truly human. It will be difficult to slay him through traditional means. He wields a terrible power. His endless strength stems from an ancient, forbidden magic… To defeat him, you will need a suitable response."

"What kind?" Hector asked.

"Tell us what it is! We'll do anything!" Eliwood begged.

"It will be harder than you can imagine. Great trials await you. …As does great despair. You may regret your decision, but this is a road from which you cannot turn back. Will you stay the course, children?"

"We've known that all along!" Hector said.

"We are strong together," Lyn said. "We managed to survive so far, on little less than hope and a prayer."

"And our strength and our resident genius," Hector added.

"My father already gave his life for this," Eliwood said slowly. "We will not turn back. If any of our followers wish to, of course they may, but we three, at least, will continue on. To do otherwise would be to sit and wait complacently for the apocalypse."

"I see," Athos said. "Then you must go to Bern. Seek out the Shrine of Seals there. It will be well hidden, and probably guarded by dangerous enemies, not to mention the Army of Bern. You can begin looking for the Shrine by making investigations in the capital, but be sure that your questions do not reach official ears, for it is a jealously guarded secret."

"We understand," Eliwood said.

Athos turned to the noble couple who had stood quietly beside him, listening carefully. "And you, Pent and Louise. What will you do in all this? Your original destination was Bern, wasn't it?"

"Ah, yes, it was," Pent said. "Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, this is my lovely wife, Louise."

Louise giggled as she offered her hand to the three lords. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Lyn said. "Ceniro's spoken fondly of both of you."

"I'm still not quite up to speed on this situation," Pent said. "But I'm intrigued. We were, as Lord Athos says, headed to Bern after this anyway. Prince Zephiel's coming-of-age ceremony is happening soon, and as King Mordred chose us to attend as representatives of Etruria, I wanted bring a suitably rare gift. And so I came here to search for artifacts in the desert, as well as continue my studies with my teacher."

"You arrived in the exact right place to meet Lord Pent. Perhaps something was guiding you," Louise said.

"Bowing to the dictates of fate, my wife and I would like to join you if we may," Pent finished.

"Yes, of course," Lyn said. "It would certainly make Ceniro happy."

"Will you send word of your mission to your countrymen?" Eliwood asked.

Pent shook his head. "There's no need. So far, it overlaps with our current journey, and the nobles in Etruria are used to our being absent for extended periods. Right, my love?"

Louise giggled again. "Very right, my dear."

Eliwood grinned as he glanced at Hector. "Not unlike a certain other noble that we know…"

"Oh, that's great! Thanks a lot!" Hector said sarcastically.

"I will speed your journey," Athos said. "I can send you to Lycia. Hawkeye, if you could gather everyone in the plaza…"

Everyone assembled in the courtyard outside, even Hawkeye, who also decided to come with them. While they were making their way there, Athos pulled Ceniro aside. "You are the tactician, yes? I believe your name is Ceniro."

"Yes, sir?"

"Fate blows a strange wind in your direction. Much rides on your shoulders and in your abilities. I want you to take this." He held out a small crystal vial. "It enhances natural abilities, skills with which one was born. Think well on it, and give this to whomever you feel will benefit the most. Do not waste its powers holding on to it. Use it."

"I think I understand," Ceniro said, accepting the vial with wide eyes. "Th-thank you."

"You are a bright child. I believe you will do will in the coming days. Go with courage, and trust your friends and allies."

"I will," Ceniro said. "Thank you very much."

When they were all there, Athos faced Eliwood. "Eliwood, your territory is the closest to Bern, is it not?"

"It's probably closer than Araphen," Eliwood said. "Even though we'll have to make our way through the mountains, it's less of a journey to Bern Keep."

"Very good. Now please envision a nice, wide place in Pherae… Next, think of the name of a person you might meet there."

"Yes," said Eliwood, closing his eyes.

"Now, children of Roland, it is time to say farewell. You must reach the Shrine of Seals. There, your destinies' doors will open wide before you…"

Ceniro lost track of which direction was up, as the landscape around them blurred and ran together, and then resolved itself into the courtyard of what he assumed was Castle Pherae.

The tactician blinked, trying to orient himself. The sun was still shining, but it was slightly lower than it had been in Nabata, and of course the temperature was much cooler – a welcome change.

There were cries from the walls around them, of alarm and surprise, and Ceniro didn't blame the guards – it must have been startling indeed to look down and suddenly see a whole army of strange individuals appear out of nowhere, including lords, scruffy mercenaries, many knights, two pegasus knights, a wyvern, and a merchant's cart. And all of them showing signs of recent battle and windblown sand.

"Hello!" Eliwood called. "It's me, don't worry! These are my friends. Where is my mother?"

"Lord Eliwood?" A junior knight ran up to him. "Your arrival is… unexpected!"

"Uh, magic," Hector said. "He'll explain later."

"Lady Eleanora is in her chambers, I believe," the knight said, and Eliwood hurried off.

"Excuse me, sir, but… what are we supposed to do?" the knight asked Hector.

Hector signalled Marcus. "What shall we do, General?"

"Lady Lyndis, Lord Hector, Ceniro, you should probably go with Lord Eliwood to explain the cause of our journey and sudden return. Lord Pent, Lady Louise, you may wish to go as well. Sir Hawkeye, I will explain to you our circumstances myself. Lowen, please show our guests with horses and pegasi to the stables, and Sir Heath as well, that they may refresh their mounts."

Ceniro followed Hector and Lyn as Marcus took charge of the group, and Pent and Louise trailed after, glancing around at the castle halls.

They caught up to Eliwood holding his mother's hands just outside her door on the second floor. She was a graceful, still-young looking woman with purple hair and eyes. "Forgive me, Mother, for startling you. The Archsage sent us."

"You look so tired. …Have you lost weight? Oh, let me see your face." She reached up to touch his cheek.

"…Mother, about Father…"

"I heard his last moments were glorious. Though he's gone, he will ever be my life's joy."

"I know," Eliwood said quietly.

"Ah, your friends are here. Hector, how good to see you again. I know you have been a great support to Eliwood in this time. And you must be the famous Lady Lyndis who caused such a stir last year!"

"How did you…"

"I knew your mother, and you greatly resemble her, though clearly you wear your father's heritage proudly and well. And you must be…"

"This is Ceniro, our tactician," Eliwood said. "He's young, but there's no one better. We haven't lost a single soldier under his commands."

Ceniro shuffled and bowed awkwardly, suddenly very aware that he was missing his cloak and the rest of him was dirty and ragged and peasantish – although the rest of them were equally dirty and dusty and covered in old dried blood.

But Eleanora smiled. "It is good to meet you as well, Ceniro. I am glad you are at my son's side. And these are…"

"This is Lord Pent and Lady Louise of Etruria," Eliwood said. "They've joined our group at least for now, and… you are here to hear me explain what has happened, right?"

"That's right," said Pent. "Don't mind us, we won't get in the way." Louise nodded.

Eleanora nodded back, and then began to move with resolve down the passage to the great hall. "Come… Let us make everyone comfortable. You all look in need of a rest."

"Mother, we have to hurry on as soon as possible…" Eliwood began.

"I know that!" she said, and turned to him with pleading eyes. "But, just for one night, you can rest in comfort, can't you?"

"One night's not going to make too much of a difference," Hector said.

"We really should," Lyn added. "The army's exhausted, especially after yesterday's battles. We all need a bit of a rest to recharge for the next stage."

Eliwood bowed his head. "You are right, Hector, Lyndis. Thank you."

And so they all found rooms somewhere in the castle, and Ceniro got a whole room to himself, and Eliwood arranged for a change of clothes while his own were washed and mended by the castle staff. They ate dinner together, explaining to Eleanora and Pent and Louise what had happened and what they needed to do, and Ceniro could hardly remember when the last time was that he had eaten so well. The rest of the army was in good spirits from the food and the rest, and there was a bit more laughter in the hall than there had been for a while, despite Lord Elbert's absence.

.

After dinner, Ceniro retired early to his room, as he intended to sleep as long as he could. The first visitor he had was Pent. "Sorry to interrupt, but…"

"No, that's all right. How have you been? And General Douglas and all those people?"

"Louise and I have been in excellent health, thank you," Pent replied, and settled himself in the armchair while Ceniro sat cross-legged on the bed. "So is the good General, and all my knights and soldiers; Castle Wrigley is in good hands while I'm away. Cavven is becoming quite accomplished! I'm glad to know you've been taking care of Erk and Priscilla."

"They've been very helpful; I don't know where we'd be without either of them," Ceniro said. "Oh, and Fiora, too. She's been reunited with her sister, who fights for Lyn."

"Yes, I think I caught a glimpse of the sister. I am so terribly sorry about the Fifth Wing… I had no idea that would happen. I should have gathered more information before I sent them off…"

"But… you sent them off to gather information, didn't you?" Ceniro asked.

Pent grimaced. "Well, yes. I heard that there was a powerful dark magic user on that island, and while I knew it was dangerous, I thought perhaps that he lived there to be alone. I never thought he was the one causing the danger… Anyway, I wanted to study with him. Of course, his desire to destroy humanity puts a bit of a damper on that."

"To study… but you're a Sage."

"True, but I find all types of magic fascinating, don't you think?"

Ceniro smiled. "You should talk to Canas, in our army. He is a scholar of dark magic and I'm sure he would be pleased to discuss things with you that the rest of us can't begin to comprehend."

"I shall seek him out! Now, about the farseer…"

"Yes, it started showing problems after we blundered into the magic seal the first time. It only really kicked it…" Ceniro counted on his fingers. "Eight days ago? The same day that Marquess Ostia told us to find Lord Athos."

"You made good time, then. Let me see it."

Ceniro scrabbled around in his pack and brought it out. "There was smoke last time; I don't suppose that's a good thing."

"Hmm." Pent removed the crystal plate and peered at the inner workings. "I'll need a few evenings with this, I think. Don't worry, I'll have it working again soon. Certainly before we part ways, if it becomes necessary for us to part ways."

"Well, and if you can't fix it, I'll just work with a map and my voice, the old-fashioned way. I try not to rely on it like a crutch, otherwise… as you see, when deprived of it…"

"Of course, but if it saves your voice…"

"Bern isn't a desert, so that shouldn't be a problem. …Ah! I'm being rude, aren't I? I'm sorry, and thank you very much."

Pent shook his head, smiling. "You're not being rude. We are friends, yes? Rank doesn't matter in here, remember?"

"Sorry, just I am trying to be less absent-minded about such things."

"Don't worry about it. I'll go get started on this. Sleep well! You look exhausted, and no wonder, to hear your story."

"Thanks, you too."

But Pent crossed paths with Eliwood at the door. "Ah, Lord Eliwood. I'm just taking this to fix it. He's all yours."

"Thank you, Lord Pent. Good night." Eliwood poked his head into the room. "Ceniro, may I come in?"

"Yes, it's your castle, isn't it?"

Eliwood smiled. "Yes, but it's your room for the night. I'm glad to see you still awake, though. I had some questions…"

"Mmhmm? Ceniro asked.

"I was wondering, do you know Bern well?"

Ceniro considered. "Well, not that well. I've walked across it, and Lyn and I passed along the northern part with all the bandits, but… we really only covered the basics of each country in training, and then there were specialized courses for people who wanted to work in each country. I studied Lycia's military, and then I got taken for private lessons with Lord Garlant and we focused mainly on training my abilities and… uh, I guess that kind of thing got put aside."

"I see… I don't know much either. Nothing more than I've heard at the court. I'm sure that, with all of your travels, you know more than I do, even if you don't know it off the top of your head."

"Yes, I suppose so. I did work with a pair of Bernese knights last year, but we didn't talk about that too much."

"All right. Besides that, I was wondering if we could… talk for a bit, since we're home."

"Talk?"

"Well, I want to know more about you. I know we talk sometimes on the road, but it's not like sitting as two friends in a comfortable room, is it?"

"No, I guess not. So what do you want to know?"

"Well, you're from Santaruz, right? When we return, if it isn't a problem, could we meet your family?"

"Eh…" Ceniro hedged. "Well, I was born in Araphen, but we moved to Santaruz when I was very small. But I don't know if I'm comfortable with you meeting my family…"

"Why not? We have lots of people of all ranks in the army, so it surely can't be that…"

"No, it's not rank… It's… my mother. She never liked the idea of my leaving home, or of my studies to be a tactician… She said I should learn a 'real trade', like my father. He's a carpenter, and a good one, and I love him, but I'm not my father…"

Eliwood nodded. "You have your own skills. I'm sure if you wanted to be, you'd be a good carpenter, or anything you put your mind to, but you have such a rare ability, you'd be wasted as anything but a tactician."

"Thanks! Anyway, she's a very… strong-minded woman, and… uh… loud. I don't go home very often because she yells at me a lot."

"But that's not why you travel…"

Ceniro smiled widely. "No, I travel because the world is beautiful and I just want to see every part of it. That's why I didn't go straight into a castle garrison, like many of my classmates did."

"It's worked out for you," Eliwood said. "I think you mentioned once you had siblings?"

"An older sister, and a younger brother. Anlie is like dad – quietly supportive, very kind… Drew is… well, right now he's a teenager, so he's kind of unobservant and clumsy and self-focused. But he's in training to be a knight in Santaruz Castle. I saw him while we passed through on the way out."

"Really? I won't say anything to anyone, because I'm sure he would like to progress on his own merit, and without any added pressure. But someday, when he does become a knight, I'd like to meet him. Perhaps when he's matured, he could join the Pheraean knights."

"Perhaps. Apparently mom has convinced him that the best place to be is his home territory, so you might have to lean on him a bit…"

"Well, it's too bad you don't have good relations with some of your family… If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"Probably not. I actually passed through on my way into Pherae, before I met you, and she was still unimpressed, even though I worked for Lord Pent and met King Mordred." Ceniro laughed. "You would think royalty would impress her, but not my mother. I guess that's where I get my rudeness from."

Eliwood snorted. "You're not rude. You're quiet, and maybe a bit shy, but just because you treat everyone the same doesn't mean you're rude. I mean, I do that, and Hector and Lyn do that, and it appears Lord Pent does that."

"Yes, but you're all nobles; you just happen to be particularly kind nobles who don't treat us peasants as inferior. As a peasant-born, to most nobles I'm insufferably rude and I think some of them think I ought to be put to death for it." Ceniro made a face, and Eliwood echoed it. "And of our other friends and allies, I'm sure many of them would like to do that, but they remember their manners better, especially the knights."

"Interesting," Eliwood said. "I suppose you're right. And it makes me a little bit sad, to think that I will never be your friend like you are my friend…"

"Well, um, I guess? But it's not my problem, remember? I don't remember rank when I'm working. So maybe I can be your friend on your level."

"I would like that. Oh!" Eliwood looked up, beaming with a sudden idea. "I can give you a Pheraean title! Then you could be a noble, at least in name, and perhaps the other nobles of Elibe will give you a break. Or at least your mother. How would you like that?"

"Ah, I'll have to think on that. That's… very generous of you!"

"Well, it's the least I could do, after all you've done for us. Yes. If you agree to it, I will make it happen. I'm sure I have a township or two that could do with a frequently-absent lord. No duties, just a title, don't worry. All right. That's settled, pending your decision. I'm going to check on Ninian and Nils, and make sure they're comfortable."

"You like her, don't you?" Ceniro asked shyly.

Eliwood paused by the door and blushed. "Yes. I do. She is so sweet and generous and gracious… and beautiful, of course. When I look at her…" He smiled dreamily. "I know Nils isn't happy with the idea, but I want to marry her – if she's willing. Once we've defeated Nergal, I want to take them both in and give them a life of comfort to make up for the difficult lives they've led so far."

Ceniro laughed a bit. "I'll try to keep you near each other in battle, unless it gets too dangerous for her. Go, and don't forget to sleep."

"Thank you, and you as well."

.

Ceniro had settled into bed and blown out the candle when the door cracked open again. "Ceniro?"

He sat up on one elbow. "Lyn? Um, you're supposed to be in bed too…"

"Yes, but I wanted to talk to you."

"Can it wait…?"

"You don't want to talk to me?"

"It's inappropriate for a man and a woman to be alone together in a room at night especially when one of them is in bed," Ceniro said. "And extra-specially when one of them is a noblewoman, which you are no matter which country you look at."

Lyn snorted and came into the room anyway. "I don't care. Nothing terrible is going to happen."

In spite of himself, Ceniro had to laugh. "You don't care what anyone thinks…"

"Is that bad?" Lyn came and sat beside him on the bed.

"No! No, that's one of the reasons I love you. I mean, Eliwood just got done telling me that he likes how I treat everyone the same regardless of rank, and…"

"Ceniro…" Lyn put her hand over his where it rested on the covers. "Can I just… be with you for a minute?"

"Of course," Ceniro whispered, correctly interpreting that as 'shut up for a moment'. "Lyn…" They sat in silence for some minutes before he shyly reached out with his other hand and rested it on her hip.

And then suddenly she was embracing him, somehow graceful even in their awkward position. "Thanks for being here, Ceniro. Eliwood and Hector are great friends, and I probably would have followed them even if you weren't there, but your presence makes me feel so much better about the whole thing."

"Mm." He didn't have the wit to say more, but instead wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you're here too."

She kissed him, once, slowly, deeply, and then let go of him, climbed off the bed, and left, leaving him with cold, empty arms, and a strange ache in his heart…

.

Three days later, they were in a small village about halfway between the border and the capital. Hector had mentioned that Bern was becoming increasing unfriendly to Lycians, and so Ceniro had suggested that they disguise themselves at least a bit. There was nothing they could do about the unusual mounts among them, or their hair colours, or their accents, but they could at least change their clothes and put on cloaks with hoods – especially imperative for Lyn, who looked, sounded, and dressed Sacaean. But Ceniro and Hector convinced her to wear something different for once, and Eleanora had brought out one of her own traveling short-dresses from when she was younger, and Lyn had acquiesced.

Eliwood had insisted that Ceniro wear something completely different from his normal clothes – now he wore rich green wool with gold detailing, and a new green cloak. And yellow armour. Ceniro shifted uncomfortably under it until Hector told him to stop fidgeting, as it ruined the 'disguise'. Hector himself had changed into more crude armour, trying to play the part of being less high-born than he was, and added a helmet to hide his distinctive blue hair. Eliwood, too, had dressed down, and kept the hood of his cloak glued to his head, trying to hide his bright red attention-catching hair.

The rest of the group did not undergo such drastic changes, but hopefully the enemy's eyes would primarily be looking for the three lords and pass over them. Maybe. It was better than nothing.

The village was bustling, as if preparing for a celebration, and Eliwood and Hector had expressed confusion until Pent guessed and Lyn confirmed that they were preparing for the prince's coming-of-age ceremony in ten days.

"So about our quest…" Hector said. "How are we going to find out about the Shrine of Seals without letting the Bern Army find out, if it's such a closely kept secret?"

"Actually, I think our best bet would be to ask someone in the Royal Family," Pent said. "I'm privy to the highest secrets of military information in Etruria. When we learned of the shrine's existence, we investigated. However, none of our operatives returned. Bern's defenses are formidable. Which means, of course, that others know where it is, but they probably don't know exactly what it is they are guarding."

"Well, how do we ask the Royal Family without giving away our identities and mission?" Lyn asked crossly.

"And if they discover our identities, Bern will see it as an excuse to invade Lycia," Hector muttered.

"I know generally where it is," Pent said. "But I think I can give you a better chance than that."

"How so?" Ceniro asked.

"Well, I am of course required to attend the prince's ceremony, and the festivities after," Pent said. "However, I am also allowed to greet the queen privately before the ceremony."

"Queen Hellene was born in Etruria, and she and I are distantly related," Louise said with a gentle smile.

"When we meet, I will discreetly ask about the Shrine of Seals," Pent said. "Most like, she'll not say much, but anything will help, will it not? Rest assured, even if I fail, I will not reveal your presence."

Eliwood's eyes widened. "Lord Pent! That's incredibly generous of you! And courageous!"

Pent shrugged. "It is a possible route, and needs to be checked. Anything I can do to help, I will. And, if we fail, you will have to return to Lycia and come up with a new plan. Say, if we have not returned by tomorrow eve."

"But if you do fail, what will happen?" Lyn asked.

Pent laughed. "It wouldn't be such a bad life, I suppose. Abandoning my position, living on the run with Louise… It'll work out in the end. We could join Ceniro, there."

"As long as I'm with Lord Pent, I am happy," Louise said.

"Well, we'll pray for your success anyway," Hector said.

"Please do!" Pent said with a grin. "Shall we, Louise?"

They mounted horses and rode briskly away.

"Come back safely!" Lyn called after them, and Louise lifted her arm in answer.

.

Four hours later, and Eliwood, of all people, was getting bored where they rested at a table outside the inn. "This sitting around is a bit tedious…"

"Eli, we have to keep a low profile," Hector said, glancing around. He was currently trying to play up his self-imposed role as Eliwood and Lyn's bodyguard.

Legault appeared on the balcony above them. "Hi. Want my two cents?"

"Sure, give 'em here," Hector said, holding out his hand as if to catch physical coins.

Legault grinned. "Well, they change around the Black Fang headquarters every few months, and they'll have certainly done so since my defection. But we could certainly ask around a bit about them. I'm afraid you might want to leave that up to your… more scruffy subordinates, of course."

"Including me?" Hector asked hopefully.

Ceniro grimaced. "Certainly not me."

"Oh, relax, you look great," Lyn assured him.

"I like that idea," Eliwood said. "Then we're not wasting time while Pent and Louise are away. But we can do our own asking, can't we?"

Legault shrugged. "It's up to you. If you're so bored you wish to risk your safety…"

"It surely can't be that dangerous in this village," Eliwood said. "Come on, Lyn, Hector, Ceniro. Oh, hello, Ninian! I thought you were with Florina?

"Hello, Lord Eliwood. Don't mind me, please. I was, but her sister called her to talk about something with Sir Kent. And then Sir Sain…"

"Of course it was Sain," Lyn groaned. "Honestly, that man…"

"Salir is safe in Pherae, so at least he can stop worrying about her," Eliwood said. "I saw that Lord Uther's reinforcements were in place while we were there. They may not have General Marcus to guide them, but Pherae Castle is safe."

"And your mother is safe," Lyn said. "Well, come on, Hector, Ceniro! We have information to gather!"

"Let's be careful, remember," Hector said as they rose from the table.

"Especially you, Hector!" Lyn cried, and ran off.

"Wait, what!?" Hector demanded, and ran after her. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ceniro followed more slowly, amused. Legault chuckled as he watched them go.

"Lyn!" Hector called. "Slow down, we're leaving Eliwood behind!"

"I can never tell if you two are friends or not," Ceniro teased as he caught up to them.

"What, are you our chaperone?" Hector said.

"That's exactly it," Lyn said. "We're just two rowdy, hyper-active soldiers and he's our long-suffering superior."

"Hyper-active? Speak for yourself, woman!"

Lyn giggled. "Anyway, we don't want to be in the way, right?"

"Huh?" Hector looked confused, while Ceniro's face morphed into a gleeful expression and he nodded vigorously. Hector still looked confused. "What are you two on about? Eliwood and Ninian?"

"Oh, come on! You're the one who started setting them up!"

Hector rolled his eyes. "Aren't we trying to save the world?"

"Yes, but there's nothing wrong with mixing a little romance in, is there? It's in all the best fairy-tales…"

"You are scaring me," Hector said. "I'm going to go ask people about the Black Fang over… here."

Lyn laughed. "You do that. And Hector?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

"Mm. You too."

.

An hour later, they had looped around and met back in the centre of town. At least, Ceniro, Eliwood, Ninian, and Lyn had. Hector was still on his way back.

The Black Fang was highly praised by the citizenry. Apparently they had done many assassinations of cruel or incompetent lords, gradually improving the lives of citizens all over Bern. Ceniro was impressed. One woman even told him how Mad Dog Linus, one of the Four Fangs, the Black Fang's strongest assassins, had saved her from bandits. And another told him confidentially that White Wolf Lloyd, his brother, was very handsome. But even some among the villagers admitted that they had heard the Black Fang had changed in the last year and not for the better.

One person had even given them a rare Silence Staff, telling them to use it on the woman who 'now led the Black Fang around by the nose'. Ceniro had gaped at them, and the person had then closed the door to their house, effectively ending communication.

Eliwood and Ninian had not found out much either, nor had Lyn, but they hadn't expected miracles. It was just something to do to relieve the tedium of waiting.

"Ah, there's Hector," said Lyn. "I was just thinking of going to look for him."

And a man in armour got in Eliwood's face. "Your name is Eliwood?"

Eliwood's hand went reflexively to his hood as he stared at the mercenary in alarmed confusion. "Um… yes? Oh, you must be Black Fang."

"That's right. You have the honor of dying at the hands of the Four Fangs. Our commander is Linus, the Mad Dog."

"Eliwood!" Hector cried, striding swiftly to stand between his friend and the assassin. "This is the enemy?"

"Yes, he is," Eliwood said. "We accept your challenge."

"Come to us, then!" the man said, and turned to jog off.

"What?" Lyn said. "Where's he going?"

"Two things," Ceniro said. "He's leading us into a trap, obviously, and he is leading us out of town where we can fight without distraction."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Eliwood said cheerfully. "What are your orders?"

"Matthew, follow him and let me know where he goes. Knights, form up on the left! Axe-men, archers, on the right. Eliwood, you and Lyn are in the middle." Ceniro called out more orders, eternally grateful that Pent had restored the farseer to functionality. It would have been difficult to form up the group in the market otherwise, and perhaps it was cheating, but he could see the trap before it was sprung. The villagers, at least, were getting out of their way with frightened noises.

"All right, move out!" Ceniro called when they were ready, and followed Eliwood north and east in the direction Matthew had gone. "Matthew, report. There seem to be an abundance of swordsmen and axemen."

"Yes, and they seem to have placed a ballista on the near island in the lake by the village," Matthew's voice came back, hushed. "Couple wyvern riders, too. I don't know what Mad Dog Linus looks like, but there's a big tough guy waiting at the back of the formation to the north-east, could be him. Big sword, big arms."

"Right. Thanks. Hold tight until we catch up to you, and then I'll slot you in between Oswin and Guy."

"Got it. Good luck."

Ceniro jogged over to the knights on the west side of the formation. "Lowen, you don't mind carrying Rebecca, do you?"

"Not at all, sir. But I think she would be more comfortable on foot once we start actually fighting. She's not trained like Sir Rath is."

"Yes, of course. Actually, I was wondering if you and Wil would like to take on that ballista together, if we can commandeer it."

"I haven't used one before…"

"That's why Wil's going with you. You should know how to use one, too, in case I need you to in future. Also, I know you're mad at him for not holding up his end of your childhood-best-friends agreement, but you should really be nicer to him…"

Rebecca sighed. "Fiiiine. You're the boss."

"It's not that, it's just- what's that?"

They could all hear someone roaring a challenge to the south east of town. "…The boldest knight in all Caelin… wherever it is!"

"Oh good lord," Kent said from a few paces behind him, and put his face in his hand. Sain followed suit, laughing.

"Well, you two had better go get him," Ceniro said. "Off you go. Tell him to join us before he ends up in Caledonia or something."

"If you're not afraid to die, show yourselves!" Wallace shouted, obviously having a great time. "Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

The two knights rode off swiftly, laughing in exasperation.

"Right," Ceniro said. "Well, there's that…"

"General Wallace of Caelin?" Lowen said, with an anxious set to his mouth. "I've… heard stories…"

"Yes, and they seem to be mostly true. Oh, I have to go take care of the right flank. I'll send Fiora over for you when the ballista's ready, Rebecca. Take care, you two."

There were already swordsmen and axemen charging at them. Ceniro snapped off a few commands, matching fighters to opponents, and then Dart informed him that they had another new recruit – some old friend of his who wanted some 'trouble'.

Then it was time to plan the ballista assault, which was going to need all their flyers. It would be risky, but if they could pull it off, it would be well worth it. Besides, Fiora, Florina, and Heath were all improved even from when they had joined the group.

"So, what I need you three to do… Heath, are you all right?" Now that he thought about it, the wyvern rider had been especially quiet since they had passed into Bern.

"Oh, Ceniro… It's nothing. I'll tell you later. Just give me my objective."

They finally caught up to Linus outside of town, who was looking somewhat concerned that his forces were falling without making a discernible difference in Eliwood's numbers. Still, he strode forward, unsheathing his giant sword. "Pray. I'll give you that much time. All the evil you've done until now, repent of it, and rest in peace."

Ceniro set his mouth. He had no doubt that Linus could take out half the army by himself, and so he would have to pick his opponent carefully. "Eliwood, do you think you can take him?"

"Do you think I can take him?" Eliwood rejoined. "I would like to talk to him."

"Why don't you face me first?" Linus asked, pointing at Ceniro. "After all, if you're sending your army at me one-on-one, I will cut them all down. So why not make it easy on yourself?"

Ceniro shook his head and backed behind Hector. "I'm not a fighter! I'm just the tactician here!"

"Is that so? Then you're the one to whom I owe all these losses! You'll be my next target!"

"Eliwood!" Ceniro yelled as he stumbled backwards, away from Linus's charge. He fell on his back, and Linus threw his sword in the air, to catch it and bring it down on-

Eliwood's rapier caught him in the shoulder and he missed, the sword thudding into the ground beside the prone tactician. Hector grabbed him and hauled him up by the scruff of his neck. "You'd better go with one of the knights. Get out of here. We'll take care of him."

"Hector, you stay back too," Ceniro ordered, even as Sain rode past and yanked him into the saddle. "You're vulnerable!"

"I'm not that vulnerable!" Hector grumbled, but let Raven take his place.

Raven and Linus were well-matched for a while, though Linus was faster and stronger. Lyn was faster yet, but not nearly as strong, and Eliwood was on the same level as Raven but all three had completely different fighting styles. They traded off attacks, keeping Linus on the defensive whenever they could. It was difficult, because his fighting was oriented mostly towards offense.

Eliwood nicked Linus again, this time in the gut, and the Mad Dog toppled over.

"Ah, Lucius!" Ceniro called. "Can you… stabilize him, please? Eliwood wants to talk to him."

"One moment," said the monk, and raised his new healing staff.

"Are you all right?" Eliwood asked, bending down over Linus.

The big man sat up slowly and felt where he had been wounded. "Why did you do that? Are you foolish?"

"We defeated you," Eliwood said frankly. "I can hold you at sword-point if you like."

"…No. I lost, fair and square. My brother tried to warn me… You're strong. Too strong. And so…"

There was a blur of movement, and then Linus was half-standing, gripping Eliwood in an iron headlock. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

.

Author's note: The knighting of Ceniro is a silly idea, obviously, and fortunately Eliwood and Ceniro both realize this at some point, though I didn't write it in.


	4. Chapter 4: Unfulfilled Heart

Chapter 4: Unfulfilled Heart

.

"Eliwood!" Hector shouted.

"All right," Eliwood said, his voice deliberately calm. "If you must."

"What?" Linus asked Eliwood, his choking grip loosening slightly. "Are you crazy?"

Eliwood still wasn't struggling. "I noticed something during the battle. You drew us out of the village, and made every effort to make no trouble for the villagers."

"Well, of course! You're our target, not them."

"The Black Fang isn't evil," Eliwood said. "You fight with honour. So why are we on different sides?"

"Well… because… _you're_ evil!" Linus frowned. "Aren't you?"

"We're trying to save the world, so… no?" Lyn said.

Linus shoved Eliwood away from him and stood up. "Bah! This makes no sense! Sonia told Father that you're a band of criminals, irresponsible lordlings meddling in affairs not your own. Father agreed, and I obeyed, but…"

"Perhaps we are meddling," Hector said. "But what we've discovered… if it's true, it's impossible not to meddle."

"Please, believe us," Eliwood said. "We're not your enemy. I think you're being used, by Sonia, by Nergal."

"And how do you know about Nergal…? Fine. I will go speak to my father and brother. I will be back, and if you've lied to me, you will pay for it." He shook a finger at Ceniro. "Don't think I won't be ready for you next time, tactician!" He stomped away, eventually vanishing into the woods that surrounded the village.

Ceniro nodded nervously, but already he liked the assassin and hoped that he would eventually join their group.

"Geez, you don't mess around, do you?" Hector said sarcastically to Eliwood. "That was too close."

"Forgive me," Eliwood said. "I wanted to talk to him at least once. And now we know, the Black Fang is not evil. Only Nergal is and those he has corrupted are."

"We should try to talk to… Brendan Reed?" Lyn said. "He would be a powerful ally. Perhaps we can resolve this without anymore fighting."

Hector rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a terrible plan. I hate it."

"Now who turned you into a grumpy cat?" Lyn demanded. "Surely you're not in this just for the fighting?"

Hector shrugged. "I won't be so optimistic as to think Nergal will go down without a fight or several. Anyway, let's go make camp. We have to be ready for Pent and Louise tomorrow."

.

It was mid-morning the next day, and Ceniro had sought out Heath. "So, Heath, what was it you were going to tell me?"

The green-haired knight looked away, at the mountains, and did not answer for a few minutes. "Well… My most recent memories of Bern are not fond ones… I'm a deserter."

"A deserter from the Bern Army?" Ceniro gasped. "But… don't they kill deserters?"

Heath snorted mirthlessly. "Now you know why I'm a mercenary. I'm the only one of my group to survive this long. It's a long story, but… Well, I can't say I'm not glad to be back. It is my home, after all. Perhaps someday soon, I can clear my name and return in peace."

"We'll help you with that," Ceniro said. "I'm sure Eliwood and company would be very happy to do whatever they can, if the words and actions of Lycian lords count for anything…"

Heath nodded. "I am forever in your debt already. But isn't that your Lord Pent returning?"

Ceniro frowned. "He's not _my_ Lord Pent?"

Heath smiled. "Word among the ranks is, your little adventure last year with him might have changed the world, and he owes it all to you."

"Well, that might be an exaggeration… Ask Fiora, she was there. I have to go. Thanks, Heath."

"No problem."

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Pent said as Ceniro walked up to the little group assembling.

"How did it go?" Lyn asked eagerly. "Did you really see the Queen?"

"Dear Queen Hellene was glad to see us," Louise said. "I think we were of some service to her."

Pent smiled. "I can't say it was a complete failure, as we did see her, but we have a task to perform before she'll tell us anything. But she knows, it's certain, and she didn't brush us off. We have a chance yet."

"What's the task?" Eliwood asked.

"The Fire Emblem, national treasure of Bern, has been stolen right out of the palace. We have to find it and return it by at least the morning of the prince's ceremony, in nine days as of today."

Hector stared. "How did anyone steal the Fire Emblem? That thing's supposed to be the most carefully guarded treasure in all Elibe!"

"That is an excellent question," Pent said. "And I think we already know the answer. But we should confirm before we set out."

"We're going to the castle?" Eliwood said.

"That sounds like what he was implying," Lyn said. "Not to be rude, but do all Etrurians kind of… side-step saying what they really mean? I know not all Lycians do…"

"Now why are you picking on me again?" Hector demanded.

"Because it's fun," Lyn retorted.

Pent laughed. "I am sometimes too clever for my own good with my words, aren't I? I will try to be more straightforward, Lyn. Please forgive me."

"It's fine," Lyn said. "Forgive me."

They travelled for several hours, until the land flattened out and grew marshy, and the road narrowed and wound its way carefully through little lakes and streams. The sky was large overhead, and full of birds.

At least, it was full of birds until the first ballista bolt came arcing through the sky and nearly struck Heath. Florina screamed, and Ceniro jumped into the chaos.

"Everyone hold it together! See those three run-down fortresses? We have to take those! Erk, Serra, Lucius, Lyn, and Guy, head for the three ballistas."

"Oh my gosh, we're surrounded!" Serra cried. "You really want me out there?"

"Serra, you can use light magic. Get out there and use it! Florina, Fiora! I know there's only two of you, but as soon as we get Wil and Rebecca and Louise on the ballistae to back you up, you're off to conquer the mages of the northeast fortress. Stand by for my signal. Heath, lead Pent, Eliwood, Dart, Dart's friend-"

"My name's Geitz!" yelled the mercenary.

"Raven, Matthew, and Ninian over to the western fortress. Knights! Form up, you're going to charge to the northern barricade in thirty seconds!"

"And what about me?" Hector said.

"We'll be moving up to support the cavalry. I think I might have spotted the enemy commander in the field. Knights, go now! Come on, the rest of you, follow me!"

Lyn's group was making short work of the archers and their inadequate guard at the ballistae. As they had all suspected, they were Black Fang. "Linus must not have spoken to his father yet," Lyn said.

"Or not in time to prevent this attack," Ceniro said. "I'm sure we just need to give him time. They'll join us yet. Florina, Fiora, you're up! Wil, Rebecca, Louise, soften up those north-eastern defences for them. Eliwood, watch your left; Raven, cover that gap. Isadora, you're doing good; Lowen, tighten up the formation! You're lagging. The enemy commander is advancing, avoid him if possible until I've figured out what his thing is."

"Hey, you!" a woman's voice called from above, and Ceniro tripped as he dodged out of the way of a pegasus knight descending on him from above. The farseer flew out of his hands, bounced off a rock, and landed in a puddle.

"Oh, shit!" Hector cried. "Is it okay? It's not gonna fry again, is it?" He picked it up and wiped it off with his cloak before handing it back to Ceniro, who had gotten up and was backing away warily from the blue-haired woman. "You better watch where you're flying, got it?"

"It'll be fine," Ceniro said to Hector. "Thank you. Who are you, and what do you want? We're kind of busy…"

"I can see that!" she said. "Look, you're really pushing yourself, taking on all these guys."

"It's not for fun! You're not with them, are you?" Hector growled, getting in her face. Her pegasus snorted and looked askance at him.

"No, of course not! I came out here because I heard I could make some gold. What a joke! Only a fool would work for this piddling amount! Skills like mine do not some cheap."

Ceniro let them argue and turned back to the battle. "Pent, archer in the tower to kill, please. Ninian, assist him. Geitz and Dart, you're going to have incoming wyvern riders. Hold them off until Matthew's in a less vulnerable position. Matthew, get to a fortified area asap."

"Twenty thousand gold?" Hector yelled from behind him. "No mercenary is that expensive!"

"What?" Ceniro asked.

"Hey, what do you need me to do now?" Lyn asked.

"Everyone's moving up to support the cavaliers. I think we're hiring a new member, though, stand by."

"Ceniro," Hector said. "Her name is Farina, her home unit is the Strongwings, and she comes with a killer lance. And she has a massive ego and costs twenty thousand."

"Any relation to Florina and Fiora?"

The woman's eyes widened to saucer shapes. "They're here?"

"We'll hire you," Ceniro said. And looked uncertainly at Hector. "We can afford that, right?"

"I wouldn't have asked you to make a choice if we couldn't afford it," Hector said. "Though, Dame Farina, we might have to pay in instalments."

"If my sisters are with you, I'll trust you'll make good on that," she said. "This time."

"Then head north-east and help them take down that fortress," Ceniro said, pointing. "Your presence will speed things up considerably."

"Got it! You won't regret it!" She whooshed off in a gust of wind.

"I hope we don't regret that," Hector muttered. "She's a little different than the others."

"Let's move forward!" Ceniro said. "Come on, quick! Marcus has been injured; Priscilla, can you move ahead of us with Rath? Get to him before he gets swamped."

"I see the enemy leader," Lyn said, appearing beside him. "He's tough. Big paladin, all in heavy black armour… I think he killed one of his own men for getting in his way."

Ceniro stared. "Wow. Not one to mess around, then."

"Brutal," Hector said. "Let me face him."

"You faced the last one…" Lyn said.

"Don't argue," Ceniro said. "We're almost there. I'm thinking a combo of Wallace and Canas."

And screams erupted from the fighting in front of them, erupting over the normal shouts and crashes of battle.

Even without looking at the farseer, without seeing what was happening in front of him, Ceniro could tell that Sain was desperately injured, probably by the black-clad knight prancing around now to face Kent, who had stopped by his fallen comrade's side and wouldn't move.

"Kent! You can't face him. Just get Sain and get out of there!"

"I won't be fast enough," Kent said. "Forgive me, sir. I have to do this."

"We've taken the fortress," Fiora's voice came through, tightly controlled. Perhaps the reunion with her sister had not been exactly a happy one?

"Get back here, then!" Ceniro interrupted her. "Sain's down, Kent is about to go down, and we need aerial extraction. There are no archers, just get here now."

"This fortress is taken, too," Eliwood reported. "We won't get there in time to help, but we'll move as quick as we can…"

"Is that all you have?" the black-clad knight roared.

"Wallace, get his attention," Ceniro ordered, climbing a pile of rubble from some ancient fortification to see better.

"With pleasure!" the old knight shouted, and swung his helmet shut. "You there! Blithering whelp! Stop bothering my students and face a hardened warrior!"

The knight wheeled around. "You face Count Pascal Grentzer of Landskron and I will cut short your miserable life!"

"Hahaha! My life's been long, so you're late on that account!"

"Canas, get ready to intercept," Ceniro said.

As Pascal began to charge Wallace, the three pegasus knights dropped out of the sky behind him. Fiora dragged Kent onto her pegasus, and together Farina and Florina dismounted, threw Sain's unconscious body over Farina's pegasus, and took off again to deposit them safely behind allied lines, where Serra was waiting.

"What is this?" Pascal cried, his horse rearing as Canas's magic swirled up around him. "You dare defy the laws of chivalry? You are no knight!"

"Neither are you, Beast of the Black Fang," Wallace said, wading forward to strike at him with his axe. "I know your exploits! You deserve neither justice nor mercy!"

"I did not know," Ceniro said. "However, that shouldn't be an issue. Lucius, Erk, Rebecca, Wil, Louise, attack him, please."

Sain was barely clinging to consciousness when Ceniro went to see him a few moments later. Sprawled on a makeshift stretcher, bleeding everywhere, nearly eviscerated, he looked like he should be dead, but he was breathing, a funny little gasping noise between clenched teeth, and his eyes were open. Kent was holding his hand, and Wil and Florina were hovering while Serra and Priscilla worked, with the assistance of Lucius, Erk, Pent, and soon Canas.

"Come on, don't leave us, buddy!" Wil encouraged him. "Stay in there!"

Sain moaned in answer, and Kent squeezed his hand tighter. Serra was holding the wound closed while Priscilla wrapped it tightly. They had stripped the armour from his upper body to make it easier to work.

"He'll be all right, right?" Ceniro asked Erk, who was closest, anxiously.

Erk didn't look away from his borrowed healing staff. "Lady Priscilla is exceptionally skilled, as you know. And Serra may be the most annoying cleric in Elibe, but she knows what she is doing."

"Thanks, Erky. He'll live," Serra said matter-of-factly, wiping her blood-covered hands on a towel and picking her staff back up. "He's a stubborn man, and he's too cute to die yet. Kent, let go of his hand for a minute, or it will interfere. Watch this!" She nodded to Priscilla, and all the magic users raised their staffs together.

Bright light surrounded Sain, and he let out a sigh of relaxation, nearly unheard under the sound of the multiple healing spells. Kent and the rest of Lyn's Legion, too, sagged in relief.

Sain coughed, but there was no blood in it, and he was already trying to sit up. Serra and Priscilla didn't stop him, so Kent and Wil grabbed his arms and helped him sit up.

"Are you okay?" Florina asked in a tiny voice, Fiora now hovering behind her.

Sain managed a shaky smile. "W-with such fair ladies w-working on m-me, and your concern for my well-being, b-beauteous F-florina, how could I be otherw-wise?"

Serra rolled her eyes. "Yup, he's fine. Totally back to normal! Okay, does anyone have water for me to wash my hands and my robes? Even more of my pretty clothes ruined… Lord Hector, why did we have to travel through a swamp? And fight in a swamp? Worst battlefield ever."

"I-I'll repay you, Lady Serra," Sain said, now struggling to stand. "Never fear! And thank you, all, for your help. It was stupid of me to accept his challenge."

"It wasn't exactly a challenge," Kent said, supporting him carefully. "But yes, you were."

"I told you not to go near him, if possible," Ceniro said, in exasperated fondness and relief. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I-I'll be fine," Sain said, still clinging to Kent. "Don't worry about me."

"He should still sit out battles for the next three days, to give the healing a chance to hold," Priscilla said.

"My lady's medical advice is my command," Sain said, and bowed slightly. Priscilla stifled a giggle and mounted her horse to continue with the rest of the group. Kent escorted Sain over to Merlinus's cart, while Wil gathered the armour and Florina led his horse.

"Dang, I hardly got to do anything," Hector grumbled as they returned to the main road.

Lyn poked him. "We managed to turn a Black Fang trap completely inside out, defeat a feared terrorist, and you're complaining you didn't see enough action? Well, you can take Sain's place next time!"

"Well that was kind of uncalled for!" Hector complained. "It's not like I want any of our allies hurt!"

"All right. But still, don't complain about such things or I'll see to it Ceniro makes you fight all the hard bad guys."

"Sounds fine to me," Hector said, and shrugged. "I guess there's no sense worrying about it. What we worry about is what we'll find at the palace."

"Now you try and talk sense?" Lyn asked incredulously. "You really are something else, Hector."

Hector smirked down at her. "Can't hold a candle to you, though."

Lyn whirled. "What did you say?"

"Peace! Both of you!" Eliwood stopped them, holding his hands out between them. "Any time we're able to weaken our foe, we've done well. I thought we established that back on Valor. Ceniro? Any orders?"

"Just to put distance between us and this place," Ceniro said. "No telling when reinforcements will arrive."

"All right," Eliwood said.

"You're right," Hector nodded.

"Let's go!" Lyn cried, pointing northwards.

.

They arrived at the valley below Bern Castle on the morning of the next day, unchallenged and apparently unnoticed. Ceniro found it strange, and odd, as he, Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector stared up at the imposing edifice hugging the crags high above them. A winding road led to the front gate.

"Can't believe it's a royal palace as well as a castle," Hector said.

"Isn't Castle Ostia-" began Eliwood.

"Castle Ostia isn't on a freaking mountain," Hector finished.

"Since wyverns only live in Bern, I imagine this is the best-defended castle on the continent," Ceniro said. "Look at that road; it would be well-nigh impossible to scale in a direct assault, no matter how large your army was."

"Good thing that's not the plan, then," Hector said. "And a doubly good thing they haven't posted tons of sentries around here. They must trust the mountains to do their work for them."

"And yet, from this place, the Fire Emblem was stolen," Eliwood murmured. "Hard to imagine a thief who could do that and escape…"

"I bet Matthew could do it," Hector said. "Given enough exotic supplies."

Lyn laughed. "Well, let's sneak into the castle! We've come all this way, we're not turning back now."

"I was waiting for you to say that!" Hector teased her. "I like the way you think."

"But don't get caught," Ceniro cautioned them. "If you get stuck, turn around and come back here. Matthew, Legault, with us. The rest of you, spread out in small groups and get under cover."

The six of them began to climb the steep road to the castle gate.

The main gate was unguarded, too. Ceniro frowned at the farseer, Matthew peering over his shoulder. It didn't make sense.

"Strange," Legault muttered. "The Fire Emblem was stolen from here, and they haven't tripled security?"

"Indeed," Lyn murmured back. "Very odd."

"This way," Matthew said, beckoning. "There's a two minute opening for us to get into this inner garden. Over the wall, quick!" He gave Lyn a leg up; she sprang nimbly up the wall and dropped silently to the other side.

Ceniro was third after Eliwood, and found himself dropping down behind a thick screen of evergreen bushes. Hector was a bit noisier, dropping with a bit of a thud and a few clanks, but settled himself into stillness instantly, a very serious look on his face.

"Man, this is the easiest spying job ever," Matthew whispered to Ceniro after he landed cat-like beside him. "Easiest. Ever. Can we do more of these?"

Ceniro smiled but said nothing, and they waited together as a small, angelic girl of about three came running into the courtyard, followed by a woman who was probably her nurse and two guards. She was laughing and running around in circles, hopping around and poking things with sticks.

"Guinivere!" came a young man's voice, and the little girl looked around, her pale brown eyes lighting up with delight. A boy of about fifteen entered the garden through the other entrance, dressed in a royal tunic and wearing a circlet; a stiff-faced guard followed him. The little girl ran to the boy, who picked her up and twirled her around in the air.

Ceniro couldn't help but smile at the affection between the two, obviously siblings. Their golden hair was the same, their eyes were the same, their smile was the same.

"Brother!" cried the little girl after she had finished laughing. "I'm so glad you came, Zephiel!"

"How have you been, Guinivere?" asked the prince.

"I'm good! But I'd be even better if you came to visit _every single day_!"

" _Every single day_ , huh? That's a lot, but I'll see what I can do."

"Yay!" and the little group behind the hedge was biting their hands to keep from cooing out loud.

"Guinivere? Guinivere, are you out here?" called a new voice, a much deeper man's voice, and Zephiel quickly put down his sister and stepped back, a shadow of apprehension crossing his face. Lyn looked at Ceniro, confused.

"Daddy!" Guinivere cried, and ran to her father, Desmond, the King of Bern, just entering through the same gate that Zephiel had. "Welcome home!"

"Were you a good girl while I was out? Come, give me a kiss. Oh, you're so adorable." He looked up from his daughter, and met his son's eyes.

"Well met, Father," said Zephiel in a low voice.

"…You take the same tone as your mother," Desmond muttered. "What brings you to my castle?"

Zephiel's face cleared and he took a step forward, towards his knight. "Ah, yes. Murdock." The knight handed him a small, squirming bag. "We were hunting in the forest earlier, and came across this abandoned fox kit. After some nursing, he is tame as can be, and I thought Guinivere might like it."

Guinivere squealed and clapped her hands, all her attention on the splash of red in the prince's hands. "Eeeee! A baby fox, how cute! Is it really for me?"

Zephiel smiled involuntarily. "If you like it, it's yours."

"I do like it! I do! Thanks so much, Brother!"

"…Guinivere, go and play in the other garden a while," Desmond said, still staring at his son.

Guinivere put her little head on one side, but took her fox and the hand of her nurse and skipped away.

"I told you to stay away from the castle," Desmond said to Zephiel in a low, angry voice.

Zephiel swallowed awkwardly. "I-I know. I'm sorry, Father. I heard Guinivere was ill, and came to see if she was better…"

"Came to see if she would die, rather! You and your traitorous mother think of nothing more than stealing my throne."

"Father! I would never want to see Guinivere harmed, not ever!"

"You plague me! Return to the manse. I will see your face no more today."

"Your majesty," began the knight.

"Silence, Murdock. You serve him at my pleasure, and do not forget it. Begone."

Silently, the prince and the knight turned and left. Ceniro heard the clop of horses soon after.

The king paced a few steps, his hands clasped behind his back and his brow furrowed. "…No matter how I warn him, he comes. Why is it that the very sight of him tries my patience so? He is truly of my own flesh and blood, yet…"

"It is jealousy, my king," said a woman's voice, and a very beautiful woman appeared from the inner entrance to the courtyard. She was elegantly dressed, with long waving black hair, and Eliwood grabbed Ceniro's arm in alarm for her eyes were golden and seemed to glow, although the sun was hidden behind clouds.

"…Sonia? …Well? Is it safe?"

"It is. The plan is working smoothly."

Desmond still frowned. "It is unlikely, but the queen might attempt to win back the Emblem somehow. Are you prepared?"

"Naturally. It is hidden in the most well-guarded place of the Black Fang fortress. I will not fail you, my king."

"Do not fail, either, in returning it nine days from now. And my other… request?"

"One of the Four Fangs will see to it. It will be nothing at all. However, General Murdock, the man protecting the prince… He is young, yet well respected. Shall we finish him, too?"

"…Murdock… His birth is low. And yet his combat skills have won him the title of Wyvern General. It would be a great blow if Bern were to lose him. I'll think of something to remove him from Zephiel's side. Will that do?"

"It will do nicely," Sonia replied, her red lips curving in a smile that made Ceniro shiver. She suddenly stiffened the the smile vanished. "Wait. …I sense someone here."

Desmond waited, listening, but shortly they all heard peals of childish laughter approaching. "It's only my daughter. You should go before you are discovered."

"Of course, my lord. Do not forget the Black Fang's contribution once we are successful. Farewell." She lifted a hand and vanished into thin air, just as Guinivere reappeared and came running to her father.

"Daddy, can I come back yet? Oh, where is Zephiel? I wanted to play with him. This kit is the cutest thing ever!"

"He had duties, and so he left," Desmond said. "Come, Guinivere, I will play with you!" The king knelt, an eager look on his face, and he held out his hands to her.

She pouted. "No! No, no, no, I wanted to play with him! I'll go call him back. Here, hold my fox!" She handed him the baby fox and ran away, calling her brother's name.

A stormy look passed over Desmond's face, and he called one of the princess's guards to him, muttering something to him as he passed over the fox. The guard saluted and marched away in a deliberate fashion that left Ceniro concerned for the fox's well-being. The king, too, left the garden, still muttering, now to himself.

The six behind the hedge were hunched in shocked silence. Well, Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, and Ceniro were, Matthew was looking a bit disgruntled, and Legault had stretched out under a bush with his hands behind his head.

Ceniro glanced at the farseer and tapped Matthew on the shoulder. "We have to get out of here. We've learned what we needed to. Do you want this?"

Matthew's face lit up. "You're letting me play with your toys?" He took the farseer gently and blinked at it.

"It's shatterproof," Ceniro whispered. "You won't break it."

"Right, then. This way!"

Matthew successfully led them back out of the palace undetected, and Legault followed them up as the rear-guard. Ceniro paused a moment at the top of the road down to admire the view; it was quite spectacular to see the valleys and lower mountains of Bern spreading out south of them.

"C'mon," Lyn said, tugging his arm. "I know you like the view, but let's keep going, okay? We don't want to get caught here. It would almost be worse."

"Coming." Zephiel and Murdock were no longer in sight, and he was pleased to see that neither were their army, safely hidden in the forests and perhaps the small village nearby. Matthew handed him back the farseer, and he gave the spy a quick smile as he took it.

"Hang on," Lyn said, pointing. "What's that?"

"That's a wyvern," Hector said. "But- It's attacking one of ours!"

"It's Nils!" Ceniro cried. "We have to get down there. I'll be right behind you." He took in the army's positions at a glance. Nils was horribly isolated. Where were Ninian and the knights who had been with him?

"Louise! Can you discourage that wyvern rider from picking on Nils? Nils, run evasively, we'll be there as quick as we can!"

Not even attempting to remain hidden, the lords sprinted down the mountain. "Marcus, Isadora, Nils needs support immediately. Do not engage the wyvern rider; she appears to be quite vicious."

It took them five tense minutes to get back down into the valley, where Nils stumbled, panting hard, into their midst. Marcus and Isadora were right behind him, having just caught up to him.

Lyn, also panting, drew her sword as the wyvern rider came swooping up to them and landed in front of them. "You leave him alone! If it's a fight you want, take me on instead!"

The lady knight grinned widely. "You've come! I've been looking forward to this!"

"Looking forward to what?" Eliwood asked cautiously, edging forward with his sword in hand, too.

"The chance to crush you! And then of course to hand the children over to Lord Nergal. The girl is here as well, isn't she?"

"So you work for Nergal, huh? Aren't you one of Bern's soldiers?"

"Heath, what can you tell me of a blonde woman wyvern rider with a big scar on her face?"

"There's more than one person like that in Bern's army," Heath answered. "But I think it's Commander Vaida, though I don't remember her having a scar. She's very strong, and her wyvern Umbriel is one of the strongest. Her spear will cut through anything. She's very proud, arrogant, even, but… I owe her my life." He paused. "Be careful."

"We'll do our best," Ceniro said.

"True, we've a contract with the Black Fang," Vaida said to Hector. "But I am loyal to one master only! He who sits on the throne of Bern!"

"Then why-" began Eliwood.

"You all talk too much! Let's get started, shall we? I've long hungered for someone to test my strength against. Make this last a while, will you? I want to enjoy this!" She took to the skies, calling out in a loud voice. "Come on out, you lot! It's playtime! The palace has promised to stay out of this, so make as much ruckus as you like!"

"Not good," Ceniro said, watching the map flood with red enemy avatars advancing on each of their little groups. "Everyone! We're under attack, and scattered through the valley. We must consolidate! And stay away from the wyvern commander!"

"Not going to help much when she's chasing us," Pent replied coolly. "Orders?"

Ceniro bit his lip for a moment and then began rapping out orders, striding towards the lower valley in the centre.

"Ceniro!" Hector shouted, and ran at him and knocked him down. Vaida swooped low over his head, her lance carving a groove into the ground right where the tactician had been standing. Ceniro grunted, the wind knocked out of him. The small bits of armour he was wearing as his disguise both cushioned his fall and bit painfully into his flesh. He scrambled up and helped Hector up.

"Ah… I'm sorry!" Yet again, he had been caught unawares from having his head in his farseer. But he had more important things to attend to. "Heath! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to her," Heath said determinedly, soaring over his head after Vaida. "Perhaps I can get her to withdraw."

"If she's part of the Black Fang, not likely! Heath, stay away from her!"

"Oh, Hyperion and I can lead Umbriel on a pretty chase. You just worry about her goons!"

"Heath!"

"Perhaps you should let him do it?" Eliwood said. "I trust he can keep himself alive…"

"I don't," Ceniro said shortly. "She's insane." He ran for the mountain on the farther end of the valley, hoping to get a better physical vantage point. "Guy, Matthew, Erk, stay with me – there are bandits about."

Heath and Vaida were yelling at each other, their voices evidently well-trained to shout across vast distances in the air. "Heath? The deserter? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Commander Vaida! Are you not sworn to serve the Royal Family? Why are you working with the Black Fang?"

"I don't see anyone from the Royal Family around, do you?" Vaida sneered, sweeping her lance in a semi-circle. "The Royal Family comes first, but if I take a few jobs on the side, no one cares! Not that it's any of your business!"

"Commander-"

"Why did you come back? Did you want to die so badly? When I let you go the first time?"

"Commander, I'm sorry about your scar-"

"It's nothing! Now… prepare yourself! Have you improved at all since you left your homeland?"

"Heath…" Ceniro couldn't say anything. Obviously there was history between the two, and it wasn't his place to interfere, not even to help their ally. But he didn't want a repeat of what happened to Sain the day before.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" Vaida cackled, as Heath finally flung his wyvern into the air, speeding away from her.

"Rebecca, Louise, Pent, get to the copse of trees about forty-five degrees to your right. Heath, bring her in-"

"No," Heath rasped. "Don't kill her! She's not evil, just…"

"Just trying to kill us!" Hector yelled, grappling with a swordsman in another part of the valley. Lyn leapt up behind him and decapitated him. "Thanks, Lyn."

"Anytime."

"No," Heath said. "Don't!" He swerved as the other wyvern dove on him. "Don't!" Ceniro wasn't even sure who Heath was talking to anymore, Vaida or Ceniro.

Vaida's lance tore through Hyperion's wing, and Heath and his mount went spiralling rapidly towards the valley floor…

Priscilla's scream hung in the air.


	5. Chapter 5: Pale Flower of Darkness

Chapter 5: Pale Flower of Darkness

.

Hyperion nose-dived into the rocky soil, screaming and clawing the whole way down. Heath was flung off and lay unmoving. Priscilla was rapidly moving out of position, no longer screaming Heath's name, urging her mare to a gallop.

"Pegasus knights, give Priscilla some cover!" Ceniro called. The rest of the battlefield was fortunately more or less taking care of itself, and right now he just cared about saving Heath and luring Vaida into a trap that would at least force her to withdraw, if not kill her.

Priscilla got to Heath's side, dropped off her horse, and knelt beside him. Vaida was swinging around, when a trio of lightening-fast white flashes got in her way. Her wyvern snapped at them, but they were too quick and dodged away.

"Careful, Fiora," Ceniro urged them. "Don't go anywhere near the hill to your southwest, there are archers there. Louise, Rebecca, there appears to be a small abandoned tower to your north – get as high as you can and they'll lead Vaida across your line of fire."

"Yup!" Rebecca chirped, already sprinting for the tower.

"Wallace, Lowen, give the ladies some cover. Bartre! Geitz! Eliwood's about to be attacked by another wyvern rider. Give him back-up! Farina, Vaida's about to lose interest in your group and go after Dart. Get her back on track. Fiora, Florina, pull back a bit so she doesn't feel boxed in. Raven, Rath, go protect Priscilla."

Vaida was yelling her own orders to her troops as she dove at the hapless axeman, who was distracted by the mages he was facing. Farina landed behind him, facing Vaida. "Look here, you're too slow! What do you feed that thing, iron weights?"

"What a pleasant greeting, buzzing featherduster!" Vaida cackled. "Perhaps I will start with you after all!"

Farina laughed abrasively. "I bet I can fill you full of holes before you even get close!"

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Dart turned, confused, and would have been fried by a fireball if Lucius hadn't shoved him rather hard – for his size – at that moment.

Farina's pegasus sprang into the air, showing superb handling, and Dart gaped after the two women as they zig-zagged their way across the battlefield. "Dart!" Ceniro cried, and the pirate started before turning back to his real opponents.

Farina banked around the tower, coming dangerously close to hitting it. Vaida had no such concerns and plowed through half of it, continuing out the other side with her wyvern barely scratched. Rebecca and Louise's arrows were accurate, but it wasn't doing nearly as much as Ceniro thought it would.

"Rebecca! Louise! Are you all right?"

"We're fine, but I'm not sure what's wrong with our arrows," Louise said, next to the twang of her bow. Ceniro could see them, crouching exposed in the new hole Vaida had left in the tower.

"I know," Pent said. "She has some sort of magic shielding. Some kind of dark magic…"

"Lucius! Serra! Need you front and centre!"

"Hello!" Pent greeted the two of them. "Here's what we'll do."

"Is that possible?" Serra asked. "We have, like, five seconds to figure it out."

"Follow my lead," Pent said, and an instant later a thunderbolt crashed down from heaven, leaving blue and white sparkles in its wake, and sizzled through Vaida's wyvern's wing.

Vaida instantly jerked her wyvern around. "Umbriel! Grrr… if I had more time, you'd pay for that! And I'm losing too many men… Everyone, retreat! Back to HQ! Move it!" Unsteadily, the wyvern came about, labouring painfully through the air. One of Vaida's allies healed it, but still she flew away, leading her troops north.

"Is Heath all right?" Ceniro asked into the farseer.

"He's fine," Priscilla said. "It's poor Hyperion who's in trouble now…"

"He's alive, but his wing is torn, and the healing is going slowly," Heath himself reported. "Thank you for not killing her."

"Wasn't for lack of trying," Rebecca snarked. "She really is strong. I hope we don't have to fight her again."

"Well," Eliwood said from behind Ceniro. "I guess that worked out."

"It did, didn't it?" Ceniro said. "Where did Ninian go, anyway?"

"Lord Eliwood!" Ninian called, and Ceniro turned to see her descending from the mountain beside them.

"Ninian!" Eliwood scrambled up to her and took her hand to help her down. "Wasn't it dangerous up there?"

"I'm sorry for leaving momentarily, Lord Eliwood… I had… some things to sort out."

"I understand, and it's good you remained hidden during the battle. That woman was targeting you and Nils."

Nils, too, approached them, riding behind Isadora. He slipped off and stood next to his sister. "What are we going to do, Lord Eliwood? Nergal's power is slowly returning. That woman was shielded by his magic."

"It won't be long," Ninian said, fretfully. "His full power… We won't be able to withstand it."

"He'll shield all his forces that way?" Hector asked. "That seems like it would take a lot of power. If he's goading King Desmond into a war with someone, then he just might get that power…"

"I don't know," Nils said. "I mean, obviously he's trying to get someone to start a war. I don't know if he'll bother shielding all his people. He might try, though. Since we're the only ones that know about him, we're the only ones his people have to fight, so not many will really need shielding."

"I see…" Eliwood said.

"Where are they getting all these people, though?" Ceniro asked in slight exasperation.

Eliwood looked at Hector. "Those mercenaries you told me were disappearing?"

"Obviously, but… how?" Hector considered. "How much would they have to pay to field several armies worth of mercenaries to fight us to the death every other day?"

"There are a lot of wicked men in the world," Lyn said. "And greedy ones. And women, too. There's only, what, thirty-five of us? And not all of us are fighters. They're not fielding full armies."

"That was an expression," Hector said. "Still, they don't seem to have limits on their manpower. And that bothers me."

"It bothers all of us," Ceniro said. His gaze drifted to where Serra and Farina were arguing about jewelry. "Well, all of us who bother to think about such things…"

"It would bother them, too, if we mentioned it," Lyn said, smiling, "and then they wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. And you don't want to do that to either of those two, do you?"

Ceniro looked up at her, startled. "I wasn't intending to imply some in our group are… slow."

"I know, just teasing. But you know what?" Lyn said. "We're all idiots. We should be following her. She might go fast on her wyvern, but she had footsoldiers with her. Ceniro, you can find them, right?"

"I can, but they might see the occasional flash. I think it might be more expedient to send some of our own after them. For instance, perhaps if you go with Rath, you can give me oral reports. The farseer can handle that. I'll turn off its scanning function."

"Right." Lyn swung up behind Rath. "We're off. We'll be in touch. Don't fall too far behind!"

"We're right behind you," Eliwood assured her, and the two Sacaeans rode off.

.

Two days later, Lyn and Rath had led them high into the mountains north of the Bern Castle. The Black Fang headquarters, the current one at least, were situated in a massive but crumbling old fortress in a cold, windy region that was currently covered in snow, despite it still only being late summer or early fall.

As Eliwood, Hector, and Ceniro and a select number of their soldiers caught up to Lyn and Rath, Vaida was winging away in another direction, a black look on her face.

"Stay low," Ceniro warned the army, both the ones up the mountain and the ones at its foot, yet again.

"Well, you were right on," Eliwood murmured to Lyn.

She grinned at him. "You doubted us?" Rath's lips curved upwards in a smile briefly, before returning to his normal impassive expression. "I must admit, partly they've let down their guard. You can see their tracks in the snow plain as day. The entrance is this way."

"Right! Let's see what we can find!" Hector, too, grinned and began to crouch-walk towards the gate, followed by Lyn.

Eliwood shook his head at Ceniro. "How is it those two always seem to be having so much fun?"

Ceniro shrugged as a smile tugged at his own lips. "Good friends make anything fun, I suppose? Let's not fall behind."

Hector looked around at the fortress as they began to slip inside. "What a complicated place."

The guards were not many – not expecting attack, considering it was a secret place – and easy to subdue without much noise. When they were done, Eliwood held up a hand and listened. "I hear… voices. That woman… Sonia… she's here."

"Good," Lyn said. "Then it's likely that she has the Fire Emblem with her."

"This way," Eliwood said, although they could all hear the faint murmurs on the wind.

They crouched below a window, one of many in a colonnade between buildings. It was horribly exposed from the walls of the fortress, but there wasn't much choice for hearing inside. A young girl squeaked for joy. "A mission! A mission for me, truly? Oh, Mother, thank you!"

"Yes indeed," said Sonia, her voice kind and proud, but Ceniro didn't trust it somehow. "And it's a big job, for the King of Bern."

The girl gasped. "The king? Why… such an important job for me?"

Someone shifted, someone in heavy armour. "Sonia, such a dangerous mission for this child… This is not a good idea."

"Father?"

"You're right," said Sonia. "This is really a job for your sons. However, since they have gone missing…" Hector mouthed an 'oh shit' at Eliwood, who nodded, grim-faced. "…my daughter will see to it. And I will have no complaints from you about it. After all, she will not be alone. Jaffar!"

All four of them stiffened, and their guards, a little way away and out of sight of the enemy, glanced at them anxiously.

"Oh, Jaffar, should you be up?" the girl asked anxiously. "Don't your wounds hurt?" Hector made an incredulous face. Whether it was that the assassin had been wounded, or that someone cared enough to inquire, Ceniro didn't know.

"Must you be so rude?" Sonia said to her. "It really is quite irritating. Jaffar, you know the mission, yes?" There was the sound of the armoured man moving, and a door opening and closing.

"The king wants his son assassinated," Jaffar said monotonously.

"The prince?" the girl questioned, still anxious. "But… why? He's his son, isn't he?"

"Nino! Be quiet!" Sonia snapped, and the girl stifled herself, apologizing. "Jaffar, this mission is yours, and you're to take Nino."

"You're not serious?" Jaffar asked, surprise leaking into even his voice.

"I am. She is my daughter, and the time has come for her to prove herself."

"…Don't do this," Jaffar said. "This is too much for her."

"If you're there, there should be no problems. I'll brook no disagreement. We must have the king in our debt. Those are Lord Nergal's explicit orders. Nino! You understand the consequences if you fail, don't you?"

"Um… yes." Nino still sounded subdued.

"Then we'll be off to investigate the prince's manse. I'll give you further details once we are closer. Kenneth! You are in charge while we are away. You know how vital it is that nothing happens to _it_."

"I will guard it with my life."

There was the sound of teleportation, and Ceniro's farseer showed the room to be empty.

"Unbelievable," Hector muttered, after Ceniro showed him they were clear. "They mean to assassinate the prince, too? On the orders of the king? That was what he was asking about…"

"Having the Fire Emblem becomes useless if the prince is dead!" Lyn said. "We have to find it as quickly as possible and intercept them! Or just intercept them. What do you think?" she asked Ceniro.

"If we talk to the girl, Nino, she might be sympathetic," Eliwood said first. "Jaffar may be incredibly dangerous, but we'll just have to work around that."

"We could split up," Ceniro said. "Take the fast units back towards the manse and try to intercept when Sonia isn't looking, leave the others here to clear the castle and find- ah!"

Someone had teleported to the snow in front of them. "Hello, trespassers. I bid you welcome. Imagine, the stronghold of a guild of assassins, infiltrated. Quite amusing, isn't it?" It was the man Sonia had named Kenneth, to judge from his voice; he was a bishop of St. Elimine from his robes. "However, you shall not leave. I have power and authority while Sonia is away!"

"But you're a bishop!" Eliwood said, distracted. "What are you doing in this place, with these people?"

"Are you referring to my relationship with the "gods"? Are you still held in thrall of such a concept? You've met Lord Nergal, haven't you? Then there is something you must know. Gods are lies created by the weakness in all mankind. …If a god truly exists, then it is my lord Nergal. Only him."

"Eliwood, don't waste time with the crazy person," Hector said, standing and drawing his axe. "Let's get out of here!"

"You can't!" came a cry from the gate, and they turned to see Ninian, Nils, and Legault and Isadora – on foot – approaching them quickly.

"I am so sorry, my lord!" Isadora called. "I could not stop them, so I came to protect them!"

"Ninian- Nils-"

"He's evil!" Nils cried, pointing at Kenneth. "He's raised a barrier around this place!"

"Nothing is more beautiful than the suffering of men," said Kenneth, smiling in a way that made shivers run down Ceniro's spine. "When I'm watching, I'm afloat in an ocean of pure bliss… I will watch you for a long, long time." He teleported away again.

"He's still here," Ninian said. "But… close. Still in the fortress. You will have to kill him to lift the barrier."

"Got it!" Eliwood said. "Ceniro! Your orders?"

"Nils, how are you feeling?" Ceniro asked.

Nils smiled. "I think I can actually assist you, if you need me!"

"Fantastic. All right. We must search this whole place…" Ceniro breathed a long sigh as he looked around at the buildings towering around them and down at his farseer. "Right. Legault, you've never been here before?"

"Nope, sorry. But I can open doors for you if you need them."

"Okay. There's one around the side of this building. Isadora, Hector, you're with him. You'll be facing a general with a lance and two mages. Eliwood, Lyn, Guy, head down that way; there's some more mages heading in this direction. Dorcas, Rath, Raven, Priscilla, head down that other direction – there are wyvern riders waiting at the end of the corridor. Take them by surprise if you can, I don't think they're aware of us yet. Ninian, you go with Eliwood, Nils, you go with Rath." He himself followed Hector.

"Ceniro!" Pent said in his ear. "What about us?"

"Can you get through the barrier? If not, stay put. General Marcus, you're in charge while we're in here. I'll bring everyone out alive, just wait for us. If you're looking for Isadora, Ninian, Nils, or Legault, they snuck in just now; they're fine."

"…No, we can't get in," Marcus said at length. "I don't understand it, or like it, but we will wait."

Hector booted in the door the instant Legault gave the all-clear, and they rushed into a bare, square stone room. The general was in motion, primed to attack; Hector parried and twirled his axe around to aim the lance in another direction. The mages were casting, cards from a card game still fluttering through the air around them. Isadora flung herself at one, cutting open the mercenary's arm, and Legault high-kicked the other one in the chin. Ceniro belatedly realized that he was capable of physically helping his allies as well, so after a moment to check that no one was headed into a trap, probably, he grabbed his staff and clocked Legault's mage in the head; the man fell like a brick.

"Why, thank you, kind master," Legault teased. "Shall I make sure he doesn't wake up and cause us trouble later?"

Ceniro hesitated. The proper thing to say was 'yes', and Legault would have no trouble carrying it out. However… it never sat well with him. "Um… no. I'll deal with him. Hector, there's a swordsman incoming from upstairs. Isadora, you take point. Hector, we'll need your strength, but he will have the advantage so go carefully-"

The swordsman burst into the room, his sword raised to strike, and Isadora caught it on her blade. For a moment or two, the two battled, seemingly equally matched. Then suddenly Isadora's eyes widened and all the strength seemed to go out of her hand. "Harken!?"

Ceniro, who had been trying to direct the rest of the groups while not being distracted by the knights dueling in front of him, looked up sharply.

The swordsman pulled up his helmet to look into Isadora's face properly, and then pulled it off completely. "Isadora!? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing! And fighting for _them_? Harken, what happened to you?"

"I… I failed in my duty… I am no longer worthy to be a knight of Pherae. Before that villain's magic, we were annihilated… and I watched my liege be taken away, powerless…"

"And so you joined them? Why?" Tears were beginning to fall from Isadora's eyes, but her expression was still murderous.

"I wanted revenge… but I could do nothing alone… so I joined them, to strike them where they're vulnerable. I swear, Isadora…"

"What do you swear?" she spat, and punched him in the face. " _That's_ for making me think you were dead, and _that's_ for not sending word, and _that's_ for joining the enemy, and _that's_ for not coming to help Lord Eliwood, and _that_ -"

"All right, Isadora," Hector said, and grabbed her arms. "Ease off the man or you'll find him just to kill him again."

"That's the point!" Isadora sobbed. "He's my fiancé, and he let me think he was dead while he went off to play anti-hero! Harken, I don't even know you anymore!"

"Isadora," Ceniro said gently. "Go join Rath's group. Legault, make sure she gets there. Raven, come to the tower."

"On my way," grunted the other swordsman. Legault took Isadora's arm and pulled her quickly to the door.

Harken was sprawled at the bottom of the tower's stairs, his eye swelling, bleeding from the lips and nose. Isadora had not pulled any of her punches. He blinked up at Hector. "What will you do with me?"

"What happened to Lord Elbert is not your fault," Hector said, giving him a hand up. "Join us. I know Isadora's mad at you, but we actually have a pretty big group, and we're fighting against Nergal. Eliwood's with us."

Harken looked away. "But I am no longer a knight of Pherae."

Hector rolled his eyes, then schooled his face to calmness when Harken looked up again. "I'm not of Pherae, so maybe it's not my place to say anything. But do you think Lord Elbert would want you to throw away your life like this? Eliwood was waiting for you, any of you, to return. We're in a war now, a secret war against Nergal. If you were ever a true knight of Pherae, you need to be with him."

Harken set his jaw in determination. "Then my life is his. May it serve him better than it served his father. …Thank you, Lord Hector of Ostia."

"You're not just going to commit suicide under Ceniro's command, either," Hector said. "This is our tactician. You will follow his orders, and try not to get yourself killed."

"Understood." He bowed to Ceniro. "I am at your service, sir."

"Okay," Ceniro said. "We need to move on to the next building. There are wyverns in it, so Hector, you'll need to take point again. Raven, H-harken, you'll flank him. Do you have a vulnerary? You might want a vulnerary. And, um, don't call me sir."

"There's a lot of men here," Dorcas interrupted as they began to move out. "I'm not sure we're enough for them."

"You'll be fine. Head behind the pillar to your left. Rath, charge down the hall, make a loop, and come back. Trust me. Priscilla, Isadora is severely emotionally compromised right now so try to keep an eye on her."

Harken cast a curious eye at him, but said nothing. Ceniro thought of explaining why he was talking to people who weren't present, but the knight was intimidating him. He would get Eliwood to do it later.

They were running through the snow to the other building when white lights appeared around them.

"Crap!" Ceniro yelled. "Purge! Get out of here!"

"That's no joke," Raven growled. "He's tougher than he looked!"

"Agreed," Ceniro said. "And he can see us, or he has a spotter. Get under cover! Those alcoves, go!"

Light magic was slamming into the snow, sending it flying everywhere, as the four men sprinted for cover in the shelter of the side of the fortress wall.

Ceniro peeked out to accurately judge the distance to the doors they were trying to reach. They were shut. "Legault, how close are you to the big double doors across from the main gate?"

"Ehhh… I could be there in two minutes. Dora here's doing okay, but she's still occasionally screaming with rage and then the baddies here start trying to target her."

"Understood. Rath, move into Isadora's six and stay there. Try to hook up with Eliwood and Lyn's group – should be two chambers north of you. Legault, we're going to need you to open this door – while we're getting Purged on."

"Are you sure it's locked?" Legault asked smoothly.

"Um… no. But if it is, we can't stick around waiting for you to get here."

"Fair enough. On my way."

Ten seconds later, Legault's head appeared around the corner of the building to their left, caught sight of them, and came running over lithely. "That door?"

"Yeah. We're going in five… four… three… two… go!" They rose to their feet and ran for the door. A blast of light caught Hector and knocked him head-over-heels into the snow, but Raven – after the barest hesitation, which puzzled Ceniro – hauled him to his feet and pushed him along.

Legault glanced at the lock and pushed the door open. "After you, gentlemen."

Ceniro laughed shortly. "Thanks. Stick around, we might need you again. Harken, get that guy."

"Sir." Harken was not going to shake that habit, was he?

The room they were in was large and full of pillars. Ceniro flattened himself against the wall and wondered if the bishop would use Purge indoors. Under his orders, the four fighters fanned out and engaged the enemies in the room, smoothly moving from point to point, subduing the enemy.

"Ceniro!" Lyn said softly from wherever she was, but he pricked up his ears.

"Yes?"

"Some really creepy Sacaean with the longest hair I've ever seen just told me I need to get stronger, and he would join us to make sure I did. He didn't seem to be with the Black Fang, because he was killing them, too. He's terrifyingly good. Or maybe just terrifying. What do you make of that?"

"Is that… the Sword Demon?" Ceniro gaped. "You convinced the Sword Demon to join us?"

"Who? Is he really good? He looks dangerous. Feels dangerous. He says his name is Karel. Are you sure he should join us?"

"I mean, I shouldn't be surprised that you convinced him to join just by being yourself, I'm just amazed that – Rath, there's a mage trying to sneak up on Dorcas – he was even here. What's he doing here?"

"Ceniro! Stop babbling."

"Lyn, he's the kind of man to face down entire armies and leave none alive. He's incredibly dangerous. No one in Elibe can match him. If he's fighting for us… we might have a way to deal with Jaffar. If he's willing to take my orders."

"Why don't you talk to him and find out?"

Ceniro gulped. "Y-yes, I suppose I should…"

"Stop being nervous! _I'm_ standing right next to him, for crying out loud!"

"Ah! That doesn't help!" Ceniro took some deep breaths. "You're fearless, not like me, _and_ possibly in danger, which makes me even more stressed! You know what? I'm going to come join you and hope that I don't freeze up talking to him. Less awkward than my voice appearing out of thin air. Head through the door on your right and I'll meet you there. It'll take me a few minutes."

"Okay. This way," she said, presumably to the Sword Demon, as Eliwood, Guy, and Ninian had received the tail end of Ceniro's message.

"This way," Ceniro said, pointing, and Hector and the two swordsmen followed him. There shouldn't be any enemies in their way, so he could really run –

…and dodge the arrow that hissed out of an alcove at him. It snagged in his cloak, barely slowing him, but he yelped anyway. Harken dove into the alcove and reappeared with a bloody sword a moment later.

"Thanks," Ceniro gasped, and let Raven take the lead.

But there were no more incidents, and they nearly collided with the rest of the group in the antechamber to a narrow hall. Ceniro saw Eliwood do a double-take at the sight of Harken, but the lord wisely saved his questions for later.

Lyn pointed to the tall, slim man with his strongly-built chest partly exposed through his robes. "Karel, Ceniro. Ceniro, Karel."

"H-hi," Ceniro said. "Um."

"You are weak," Karel said in a low gravelly voice, with a smile of contempt. "And you lead us?"

Lyn rolled her eyes. "He doesn't have to be the greatest fighter ever to have the greatest brain ever."

"Everyone move!" Ceniro yelled, as suddenly Purge began to form around them once more. "Get in that room! Go!"

Kenneth was waiting for them, apparently unconcerned that they had defeated most of his forces with their tiny band, and that none of his spells had taken them down – at least for long.

"You're doing much better than I had anticipated. But it's about time to put an end to this." He raised his hands and began to chant.

"Did you know we had the Sword Demon with us?" Hector asked, swatting at light sparkles with his axe. The bishop's face did not change. It was possible he hadn't heard Hector.

"K-karel, get him!" Ceniro said. "Eliwood, there's reinforcements coming through the door on the left; take Rath and deal with them. Lyn, Hector, door on the right. Harken, Raven, Dorcas, watch our backs. Priscilla, Hector could use your staff. Isadora, Legault, on me."

Karel leapt forward, his dark hair forming a comet-tail behind him. Divine exploded around him, and Ceniro lost sight of him. Then a crimson katana flashed once, and the bishop fell to the floor.

Priscilla healed Karel, who was mildly bleeding, as the others stopped the last of the enemy forces.

"I wonder," Lyn said, kneeling over the body. "I wonder if it's at all terrifying to lose yourself entirely… To fall completely under the sway of Nergal's power…"

"You could ask Canas about falling to darkness," Ceniro suggested. "Probably not the same thing."

"Nergal's driving everyone mad," Eliwood said softly. "Another reason to stop him…"

"I agree completely," Lyn said, and stood. Her boot brushed the body as she turned, and something thumped to the floor. "…Hey! What could this be?"

She picked up a large, ruby-like stone from the floor beside the bishop. A golden dragon was wrapped around the stone, and it nestled in the palm of her hand like a glittering red star.

"Is that the Fire Emblem?" Eliwood asked, staring at it.

"He had it all along?" Hector groaned. "Well, let's take it and go! Two objectives down, two left to go!"

"Which two?" Ceniro asked. "We've lowered the barrier and recovered the Fire Emblem…"

"Save the prince and return the Fire Emblem," Hector said. "And then we'll be one step closer to our real objective."

"Very goal-oriented," Lyn teased. "You're right. Let's get out of here!"


	6. Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn

Chapter 6: Battle Before Dawn

.

They were camped in a valley halfway between the Black Fang fortress and the prince's manse. Sonia, Nino, and Jaffar appeared to be going on foot, instead of teleporting, which greatly relieved Ceniro – they would have time to catch up. But time itself was running short: they had only two days to return the Fire Emblem.

Currently, he was sitting quietly beside Eliwood and Harken, as Eliwood tried to ascertain what had happened to the knight. Harken was not forthcoming about his experiences beyond what he had already said, and it was quite obvious that he was in a heavy depression. Isadora was nowhere near any of them, but Legault had attached himself to her and was ensuring that she wouldn't do anything foolish, for which Ceniro was grateful.

"Harken…" Eliwood said finally. "I know that you're hurting, and I want to help…"

"You can't help everyone, Lord Eliwood."

"I can try! That's why I am here. Harken, my father's death killed me inside too, but I have to grieve for him later. We have to stop Nergal first."

"I know. But it wasn't your personal failure…"

"It wasn't yours either. We've seen his power. …When Nergal is dead, will you feel better?"

"I don't know."

Eliwood nodded for a moment. "…And Isadora…"

Harken bowed his head almost to his knees.

"You should still try to talk to her, even if she's avoiding you."

"But… why? I abandoned her. Surely she has the right to banish me from her presence now that I am in her vicinity."

"Because she still cares for you, very deeply. She's hurting and confused and angry, sure, but staying away will only hurt her more. If you still care about her at all…"

"…I do care. But what does that mean, anymore?" Harken snorted.

Ceniro touched Eliwood's shoulder. "Um… can I try?"

Eliwood nodded, patted Harken's shoulder, got up, patted Ceniro's shoulder, and left silently.

Ceniro scooted a little bit closer on the fallen log the three of them had been sitting on. "…Hi."

"Hello."

They sat in silence together for a while. Harken watched the fire. Ceniro watched Harken. The knight's face was stern, and Ceniro suspected that it was often stern, even before the world turned upside down, but there were also laugh-lines in the corners of his eyes, so he could smile, too.

"I had depression once," Ceniro said. Harken glanced at him briefly. "It wasn't anything like this… I was just a teenager trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, under external and internal pressures."

"So you think you know how I feel, in spite of our differing circumstances?"

Ceniro's lips twitched. "Our circumstances _are_ wildly different… but yes. Eliwood might not, yet. Hector and Lyn, I don't know."

"You don't use honorifics. Why not?"

"Um… I'm forgetful. And they don't seem to mind. …Anyway, what worked for me might not work for you… I moved away from home, went to the Academy in Ostia. I was too busy for depression to keep its hold on me. My first few months, I didn't do so well. But eventually… So, we'll keep you busy here. There's a lot of fighting."

"You think I'll just… get over it?"

"No. Not at all. But we can keep you functioning. You probably don't want to talk to anyone, but there are people to talk to if ever you want to. And we'll all keep telling you, until you believe if – it wasn't your fault."

"You say that, but it's not true."

"It is true," Ceniro told him, with as much conviction as he'd ever had about anything. "You knights may be the flower of Pherae, but so few of you, and completely unprepared… Now we know what we're facing. And we might still fail. But we have to try."

"I'm with you for the trying," Harken said. "And Isadora…"

"She's with us, too."

"Do I really have to talk to her? It…"

"Yes," Ceniro said gently. "If for no other reason than that I may need you to fight side-by-side and I can't have you overly distracted by wild emotions for each other."

"We are knights of Pherae, we don't get distracted."

"All right. I guess you're right. But still, talk to her. Even if your feelings for her seem useless and insignificant, they're important. It will help both of you."

"You know, then."

"My sister is a very long-suffering woman," Ceniro said with a slight smile. "Between my depression and my younger brother's arrogance… I'm amazed she still loves us at all."

"I see." Harken stared at the fire a while more. "I will do as you bid. It is not on her to rescue me from this pit. I must do that myself. But perhaps she – and you – can help." He paused, just as Ceniro was about to nod encouragingly. "But I don't believe that."

Ceniro shrugged. At least Harken was trying.

Harken looked up. "What's that?"

Ceniro listened. "That would be… Dart and Farina. Throwing things at each other. I guess I'd better go sort them out…"

"Is that what you do? Sort people out?"

Ceniro chuckled. "I'm not a licensed therapist, by any means. No. I'm a tactician. That's all. I tell people where to fight and how to not die in battle. Hopefully. But getting to know people… it's not bad as a psychology course." A particularly large crash resounded around the camp and he sighed. "I'll be back later. If you want." Harken made no reply, so he turned and scampered off to the two fighting soldiers.

"Are you stupid?" Farina yelled at Dart.

"No, you're just a greedy little-"

"Come on, you guys!" Ceniro said, and gasped for air as Farina elbowed him in the gut.

Instantly she turned to him, contrite. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, sir! I didn't know it was you. Um… well this is embarrassing!"

"Help the man to a seat now!" Dart barked, suiting action to words. "I guess we disturbed you, huh?"

"You disturbed everyone!" Hector snapped at them from a growing ring of spectators, holding an empty kettle that had a large dent in it now. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"Uhhhh…" Dart drawled.

"It's his fault!" Farina pointed at Dart. "He's an idiot! He has a treasure chart and he's not going to take the treasure!"

Ceniro began to laugh, while Hector's gaze darkened. "And you're trying to kill each other over a treasure map?"

"Ummmm…" Dart said.

"This is important!" Farina said, but she was beginning to turn red.

"Yeah." Hector did not sound convinced in the slightest.

"And I'm sorry for hitting the tactician! I was just worked up, and…"

"It's all right," Ceniro said, his breath finally back. "But please don't fight in camp. It's… not professional."

That had the desired effect. Farina snapped to attention, while Dart rubbed his head, looking sheepish. "It won't happen again!" Farina said, though not without a heated glare at the pirate.

"Nay… nay… I won't be fighting in camp," Dart said, nodding, and shot a smouldering look of his own at the pegasus knight.

"Keep your flirting to yourselves," Hector said disgustedly, striding away. "Oh, Ceniro, we could use your help. Lyn's trying to explain to Karel how everything works, and he's not getting it."

"Ah… okay." Ceniro got up and hurried after Hector, his heart rate speeding up abruptly.

"Truce?" Farina asked. "While we're with this group?"

"Truce," Dart said. "They're not interested in treasure, anyway."

"…really works," Lyn was saying as Hector and Ceniro walked up. The two Sacaeans were hardly to be seen in the darkness on the edge of camp, but Karel's eyes gleamed in the light of the campfires. "So it's in your best interest to-"

"Greetings," Karel said to Hector. To Ceniro he said nothing.

"Don't be rude," Hector said to Karel. Lyn snorted but said nothing.

"He is not worth my time," Karel said.

"Um, you are dead wrong," Lyn said. "He's the one here most worth your time. Just listen to what he has to say, all right?" She turned to him. Karel did not, but Ceniro could tell he was listening.

Ceniro gulped. "U-um. So. I-it's true that I have no physical combat skills to speak of. And you scare the daylights out of me, but you knew that. But…" He wracked his brains to think what the Sword Demon's gimmick was. "I can match you up against the strongest opponents in our battles."

"Very well. You have my attention." Karel turned and loomed over him. Ceniro would have been frightened except that Hector and Lyn were beside him. Never mind, he was still frightened. Karel could still kill him before they could intervene.

"W-well. I make the battle plans, and in order to achieve our goals, I try to send people to fight the enemy in the most strategic order on the battlefield. And you're… one of – you're the best. I wouldn't waste you by sending you against common soldiers. But when I do send you against common soldiers, it's only so that I can send you against tougher people later. D-does that makes sense?"

Karel was motionless for a long minute, just watching the tactician sweat and blink under his scrutiny. "Yes." And he turned away and Ceniro sagged against Hector's side.

"Lyn, did you explain about the farseer yet?"

"Yup. He's all ready for you next battle."

"But if I think your plans are stupid, I'm going after the strongest enemy anyway," Karel said. "I can cut through whole armies. I care not for 'strategies'."

"You will care when we face Nergal and his strongest henchmen," Hector growled. "Unless you want to be dead by stupidity."

"I'm not stupid," Karel said placidly, swinging back around to face Hector with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"No, but Ceniro's a genius, so just do as he says, all right? His plans are never stupid. It's how we got this far without you fighting with us. And Ceniro, if I can request that he doesn't turn our army into a one-trick pony…"

"No fears for that," Lyn said pertly. "If he wanted to do that, he would have done it with Pent."

"Pent? The famed Mage General of Etruria?"

"You are not going after our strongest members just to test your strength," Lyn said sharply.

Karel bowed his head once. "But after Nergal is defeated… I make no promises."

"Please don't kill any of our allies," Ceniro said. "And by 'our' I mean 'yours' too."

"Do as you will," Karel said. "But remember my sword is sharp and eager for blood."

"I think that's the best we'll get," Lyn said. "Come on. I want to check on Nils. Eliwood was taking Ninian for some alone time when last I saw…"

And then Wil ran into Ceniro, fleeing from Wallace.

Just another evening in the life of a tactician.

.

Another evening later, the morning before the ceremony, and they were approaching the prince's manse. It was a great old mansion on a large private estate in the country, facing north. There were no guards posted on the high walls that surrounded, at least none that Ceniro could see. Which was fortunate, because they wouldn't be distracted or be a distraction, and unfortunate, because Ceniro had no way of knowing if they were too late or not.

Perhaps the fact that there were no guards means they were too late.

And then Lyn grabbed his arm. "They're putting out the lights! What does that mean?" Sure enough, one by one, the lights in the manse were going out.

"We might be in time," Ceniro said. "Move in! Quick! They've only just started!"

They burst in through the front door. Ceniro could hear fighting from somewhere on the first floor, but the farseer was not co-operating in the darkness. "Torches, people!" There was movement in the second corridor, moving rapidly away from them. "You guys, go that way! You, with me!" He himself took a torch, though it was almost redundant as Pent lit a torch staff and let its light blaze across their group, illuminating everything around them bright as day.

He rounded a corner behind Eliwood and almost bumped into him as he stumbled to a stop. "Ceniro! Isn't that-"

A young girl with grass-green hair was huddled in an alcove. She looked like she had been crying, and was blinking in the light of the torch staff.

"It's all right," Eliwood said. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Please!" she burst out, and Eliwood and Ceniro stiffened. He had been right. "Save the prince! He's in his room. There are assassins coming for him!"

"Nino?" Eliwood asked. "Your name's Nino, isn't it?"

Her eyes widened to enormous sizes. "H-how did you know?"

"I've got the battle," Ceniro said. "You explain to her what we know. Matthew! Kent! Sain! Take the lead, and watch out for Jaffar!"

"No!" Nino cried. "Jaffar's not a bad person! I mean… he did bad things, but he's the one who saved me! Ursula and her troops are trying to kill all three of us, Jaffar and the prince and me! Please don't hurt him!"

Eliwood almost laughed. "I think we're more worried about him hurting us. All right. If we see him, you have to talk to him and get him to not attack us. So, here's what we know about the Black Fang…"

Enemies appeared between their group and the prince's door. Ceniro set Lucius and Canas on them from behind the protective screen of the knights, though he worried about the expensive things in the manse and whether they'd have to pay for them afterwards. Still, the prince's life was more important by far than the house.

"That's right," Pent said beside him. "It'd be preferable to burn down the whole manse rather than lose the prince's life."

"Eh?" Ceniro blurted out.

Pent chuckled. "I saw where you were looking. So don't hold back with Erk and me. We can control it, but it doesn't really matter in the end as long as we achieve our goals."

"You're right," Ceniro said. "In that case, I need this hall cleared." He checked the farseer. "Hmm. It appears that Karel is taking on the entire other wing. And there's… Ah, there's Jaffar. Karel! Don't engage the red-headed assassin. He's… neutral."

"He is strong," Karel hissed, and Ceniro's skin crawled. "I would test him."

Ceniro sighed in frustration. "Leave it!"

Karel didn't even answer.

"All right, Eliwood, go in there and make sure the prince is safe. Lucius – oh, Hector – you too, both of you." Hector's group appeared down a connecting passage, reporting that area cleared for Black Fang.

"Prince Zephiel!" Eliwood cried as he burst into the room. "Are you all right?"

The prince had just taken down an assassin; his silver blade was stained with blood and he had a wild-eyed, frightened look on his face, though he hid it well as Eliwood, Hector, and Lucius entered the room. "Who are you?"

"We're from Ly- Uh, we're here to rescue you," Hector said, tripping over his words.

"Let us protect you. Your guards are unconscious or dead. This foe is strong. Stay back," Eliwood offered.

"He's not injured," Lucius reported softly.

"Then come back and move forward with Louise," Ceniro ordered. "There's a nest of them making a barricade in this side chamber."

"I will not," Zephiel said heatedly to Eliwood and Hector. "I know neither your names nor your motives."

"I apologize. You are correct. But we cannot tell you," Eliwood said.

"…I see. In that case, I will place my life in your hands. If you had wanted me dead, I would already be thus. I will trust you."

"Upon my honour as a knight," Eliwood said, "you can."

Ceniro poked his head into the room. "Prince Zephiel? I need these two, but I'll be leaving you other guards. Lowen, Fiora, Raven! Stay here with the prince. C'mon, you two. We have to go save Jaffar. Karel's entirely too close to him and he's not standing down at all." He couldn't risk Eliwood and Hector calling each other by name, and their names and appearances were entirely too distinctive.

They emerged into a great hall, a ball-room from the look of it. What Black Fang were in the room were transfixed by the duel going on at its centre, and so were their allies.

Jaffar and Karel were engaged in combat, both lightening swift, their swords glittering in the light of the moon that came streaming through the high-set windows in the hall.

Ceniro caught sight of a tall, slender woman clad in purple on the other side of the hall. "Karel! You're going to get Bolting if you don't move now!"

"Do we even care that much about Jaffar?" Hector demanded. "He's a heartless killer. Shouldn't we just let Karel deal with him and not have him stab us in the back later?"

"No!" Nino cried again. "Let me go out there, I can stop him!"

"Wait!" Eliwood cried, as thunder cracked and a bolt of lightening split the roof, striking the ground between the two master swordsmen dancing around each other. Karel's hair caught on fire, and he flipped away, putting it out.

Nino took the time to run out, flinging her arms around the red-headed assassin, and even Karel couldn't approach. "Jaffar!"

"Nino? …I told you to flee."

"No, these people are helping us! Come with me, Jaffar!"

"There's no point in saving a life without worth. I have been dead since the day I was born. …You gave me a soul, Nino. Go, and live. You deserve to live."

It was probably the longest single statement anyone had heard from Jaffar ever, and even Hector gaped at it.

"No!" Nino cried stubbornly. "If you're not coming, then I'm staying!"

"Nino…" Jaffar ruffled her hair. "Stay with that man." He pointed at Eliwood. "He'll protect you." He gave her a little shove and turned away, dashing towards the woman in purple.

"Jaffar!" Nino wailed, as Eliwood caught her to hold her back.

The woman in purple laughed. "Tell me, Jaffar… Are you afraid to die? Now that you've gained this 'soul' you brag about?"

"You know that I am not, Ursula," Jaffar said, and launching himself at her throat.

A cloud of fire and lightening surrounded the two, and when it faded and they could see again, there were two prone bodies there.

"Jaffar!" Nino screamed again, twisting free of Eliwood's grip, snatching Erk's healing staff, and running forward.

The remaining Black Fang, seeing the death of their leader, attacked, desperately, piecemeal, rather than be taken alive. Ceniro dispatched them swiftly.

Nino had somehow succeeded in healing Jaffar, though she looked entirely too young to know how to use both attack spells and healing spells. She tried to pick him up, but he opened his eyes and rolled to his feet in one smooth motion.

"All right!" Ceniro called to everyone. "Mission accomplished, withdraw!"

They fled out into the dark night, the farseer leading them unerringly back to camp, where Merlinus and a small group of guards waited for them. Ceniro told the army to go to bed, and then joined Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn, who were holding council over Jaffar and Nino.

Concerning Nino, the decision was unanimous and didn't even have to be spoken. They wanted to take her into the group. A young, friendless girl, with a boundless optimism and a heart large enough to encompass a merciless killer? A young girl with a smile like sunshine who could summon gigantic fireballs and heal devastating injuries? Everyone was on board with that. Even Pent, who had told Ceniro so before he went to bed.

Jaffar was another matter, and everyone knew it. "Why did you not kill me?"

"I'd like to rip you limb from limb," Hector growled. "But she says no, so I won't." He gestured to Nino.

Lyn was more diplomatic. "You didn't kill the prince, so we won't kill you."

"He went against Sonia's orders to save my life!" Nino chirped, holding onto Jaffar's arm. "And then he went against her other orders to… well, I guess to make me happy!" Jaffar said nothing.

"He let the prince live to make you happy?" Eliwood asked.

"So naive," Jaffar muttered. "Do you know how many of your allies have fallen by my hand?"

"…Like who…?" Lyn asked, wondering if she really wanted an answer.

"…That woman with the pink hair… On the Dread Isle…"

"You monster!" Hector roared, jumping forward. Eliwood and Lyn both grappled with him, trying to keep him from fulfilling his enraged purpose.

"Hector!" Eliwood yelled. "Calm down!"

"Get out of my way! I'm going to kill him!"

"Stop it!" Nino shouted, getting between Hector and his target. She was so brave, thought Ceniro. What must her life have been like, that she would stand fearlessly before Hector at his worst?

Hector ripped free of Eliwood and Lyn, knocked Nino aside – Ceniro caught her before she could fall to the ground – and raised his fist to strike Jaffar.

Who stood there, silently, unmoving.

"Why don't you draw your sword?" Hector growled between his teeth.

"I've not been ordered to," Jaffar said, with a flick of his eyes to Nino and Ceniro.

"What do you mean?" Hector demanded, but Jaffar didn't answer.

"Please," Nino said in a small voice. "I don't know what he's done to you… but please… please forgive him…"

Hector spun away with a flap of his cloak. "He's nothing more than a tool. To Nergal, to you, to us, whatever. It serves nothing to break tools. But after Nergal is dead…" He took a deep breath. "I don't forgive him anything. Not Leila's murder, not the murder of a single good person. But if you're coming with us… he can come as well."

"There, that's good enough, right, Nino?" Lyn asked kindly.

"Thank you!" Nino cried, all smiles now, and hugged Jaffar. "You won't regret it, truly. Thank you!"

.

They returned at first light the next day. Ceniro was nervous, but he wasn't the only one – Hector and Lyn were fidgeting, murmuring to each other in low voices. Only Eliwood seemed able to preserve his usual calm.

This was his second time meeting royalty. And the royalty of Bern didn't have the same reputation as the royalty of Etruria… but Queen Hellene was of Etruria, wasn't she? So perhaps it would be all right.

The manse did not look significantly worse for wear in the morning light, not even inside. The cleaning staff and guards had been busy, clearing away bodies, mopping up blood, hiding surface damage to the building. Ceniro wondered what the ballroom looked like. But they were led to the second floor, to the queen's chambers, where there was no damage.

They had agreed to use their right names, so when the Queen entered the parlour and they rose, Pent made introductions. "Greetings, your majesty. I have with me Lord Eliwood of Pherae, Lord Hector of Ostia, Lady Lyndis of Caelin, and their esteemed tactician, Ceniro of Santaruz."

They all bowed, Ceniro managing to dredge up some memories of remedial etiquette class at the Ostia Academy – aided and refreshed by Eliwood and Pent shortly after breakfast that morning.

The Queen didn't seem particularly interested. "Yes, yes, very nice. The Fire Emblem? You have recovered it?"

"Queen Hellen, has no one mentioned what happened last night…?" Eliwood questioned delicately even as he felt in his pocket for the precious stone.

She waved a delicate hand dismissively. "Something about assassins breaking in, wasn't it? I didn't hear anyone. I have no time for such trifles. Quickly, the Emblem."

He silently handed it to her, wrapped in a silk scarf.

"Ah, yes, this is truly the Fire Emblem. Now the throne shall pass to my darling Zephiel, and never that annoying Guinevere."

"Queen Hellene," Eliwood tried to interject, and Ceniro had an anxious feeling about his tone.

"Oh, yes," she answered, not paying much attention to his tone. "I nearly forgot. Your reward. You wish to know the way to the Shrine of Seals, yes?"

"Before that," Eliwood said, taking a hesitant step forward, "I must ask you something. Forgive me, but… what is His Royal Highness Prince Zephiel to you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Hellene demanded, her accent growing more pronounced as her expression darkened.

"He is your own son, is he not?" Eliwood said slowly. "Or is he only a pawn to secure the throne, like the Fire Emblem itself?"

"How dare you?" Hellene hissed, drawing her shawl tightly around herself as she clutched the Fire Emblem. "You insolent, ignorant child! You forget your place!"

"I do not forget," Eliwood answered coolly. "But anything that places your own son's life at risk-"

"What are you talking about? Those assassins-? They were naught but… General Murdock?"

The prince's bodyguard was standing in the doorway, his face grave. "Your majesty, I must speak with you at once." He glanced at the little group of nobles, and did a tiny double take at Eliwood and Hector. Ceniro's heart went cold, but Murdock continued without any change of inflection. "Your foreign guests can attend to you later."

"And that's our cue," Hector muttered to Lyn as they bowed and exited the room.

Eliwood led them straight down the stairs and out into the garden, aiming for the gate where their knights waited as escort. Halfway there, he slowed and turned to Pent and Louise. "I am truly sorry. I shouldn't have said that, at least not until she had told us the way. I think I have doomed all of Elibe…"

"I agreed with you, if it's any consolation," Pent said, and Louise nodded.

"Poor Hellene…" she said. "Before she was married, she was very kind and gentle. She longed to be a good mother. And a good wife, before she learned that King Desmond was not one to change his ways even for his own wife…"

"She has suffered much," Pent said. "It's so sad her only comfort is her obsession with the succession…"

"Both his parents are alive," Lyn said to Ceniro. "But they're both… kind of awful. That's so sad…"

"Well," Hector said to Eliwood, "what's done is done. We'll find another way to get where we're going-"

The guards at the gate, at an unseen command, closed their lances in their path.

"What is this?" Eliwood asked, and Ceniro's heart rate began to increase. Their knights, just outside, looked to him anxiously.

"Wait!" came a cry behind them, and they turned to see the queen herself, hurrying towards them on foot. "Go no further. I would speak with you more."

"Queen Hellene?" Eliwood asked, startled. "You could have sent for us…"

"Leave us," she panted to the guards, and they saluted and withdrew beyond earshot. "Your name was Eliwood, yes? And Hector?"

"Yes…Your Majesty?" they said in tandem.

She presented them with a slim book and something wrapped in the silk scarf. "I must thank you again and again, for what you have done for my Zephiel. Within this book is the location of the Shrine of Seals, and General Murdock has promised that the Army of Bern will withdraw from its vicinity for three days. I can make no promises for the King's own regiments, but I have done what I can. This seal was a wedding present from Count Reglay," and she cast a fond smile in Pent and Louise's direction. "I had thought to save it for Zephiel… but… I have a premonition that you will need it more on your journey."

Hector looked at Pent. "What _did_ you tell Her Majesty?"

Pent shrugged. "Not much, really. There was something about a power-hungry druid in there…"

"He must be very powerful indeed, if you are going to the Shrine," Hellene said. "And so I thought… you might be able to use this."

"We will indeed," Eliwood said. "Thank you so much, Your Majesty. But why so much, for us?"

"It is hardly enough to cover my debt to you, not as a queen, but as a mother. For saving Zephiel from the assassins… From the Blue Crow of the Black Fang… I have no words enough."

Eliwood, overcome, bowed again to her.

"I take it we were recognized," Hector said softly to Ceniro.

Hellene smiled brightly at them. "My Zephiel is a bright lad, and General Murdock is no slouch either. They figured out it was you last night."

"Your Majesty…" Eliwood said.

"You had better get going," Hellene told them briskly. "Three days should just be enough time for you to get to the Shrine and out of the danger zone again, assuming you do not need to linger. Go on! Be off with you! And good fortune with you. I have no wish for His Majesty to declare war on evil druids."

"Thank you!" Eliwood said again, and they bowed to her and left quickly. They mounted up on their borrowed horses and the knights – Marcus, Lowen, Isadora, Harken, Kent, Sain, and Oswin – fell in behind them.

"That went really well, actually," Hector said. "I wonder what changed her mind?"

"General Murdock said something, obviously," Lyn said pointedly. "What's the seal for, Eliwood?"

"It's… an item of great power. My father had one… It confers great strength on someone. Enhances the abilities they already have…"

"Oh," Pent said, and rummaged inside his jacket until he brought out an identical medallion. "I have been forgetting. I have one too. From Lord Athos, to you."

"To us?" Hector asked. "Why would the old man give us that… through you?"

"He wanted me to wait until an appropriate time. Perhaps that time was before now… but now you have two."

"Ceniro, you hold onto these," Eliwood said, handing him both seals and the map to the Shrine of Seals. "I trust you will know who to give them to."

"I will think about it," Ceniro said. "Oh! And Athos gave me this vial, as well. He said it enhances natural abilities as well… But I gather, in a different way?"

"Ah, yes," Pent said, looking at it as carefully as he could without falling off his horse. "Afa's Drops. They will help someone grow more quickly in their skills over time, while a Heaven's Seal works immediately and only on someone already powerful."

"Hmm." Ceniro thought. "I wonder… The youngest in our army would benefit the most, then. And those would be… Nino, Rebecca, Erk, and Nils."

"I vote for Nino," Lyn said. "She might be able to use magic, but I overheard her telling Erk this morning that she doesn't even know how to read. Imagine that! What kind of abusive mother is Sonia, not even teaching her child to read?"

"And why didn't anyone else teach her to read?" Hector asked.

"She doesn't know how to read?" Pent asked. "Then her skill with magic is truly astonishing, for… you must have noticed, us mages – and monks and shamans – go through spellbooks like food for a starving man."

"Anyway, it's your decision," Eliwood told Ceniro. "Any of those people you mentioned would do well with a little boost, I'm sure."

"And the Heaven's Seals?" Ceniro asked.

"As long as you don't use them both on Pent," Hector joked. "He's already fearsome enough. Or Louise! She'd be able to shoot the stars out of the sky if you did that."

"That's a Sacaean saying," Lyn exclaimed. "How did you know that?"

"I dunno? I heard someone say it once. Kind of catchy, no?"

"No, don't use the Seals on us," Pent said. "I'm already the Mage General of Etruria, and Louise is the best shot in the land. We're fine. I suggest using them on two of these three, here." He pointed to Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector.

"Why us?" Eliwood asked.

"You are the leaders of the army," Pent said. "It is by your strength of will, the charisma of your leadership, that most of these people follow on your suicidal quest."

"To be sure," Louise added, "most of them would volunteer to save the world if they found out about it through other means. But none of them have the qualities you three have. You were born to lead."

"And I don't think you've even begun to appreciate your own potential," Pent said. "Don't you think, Ceniro?"

"I think that you all are too lucky," Ceniro said. "You're all attractive young people born into the nobility, responsible and strong and liked enough to be the best examples of nobles in our generation, _and_ you're some of the best fighters in our army. It's not for nothing that I field you in the front every battle, and it's not just because I'm afraid Lyn or Hector will take my head off if I make them sit in the back with Merlinus. Pent's right. I'm giving you all Heaven's Seals, as soon as we find a third one."

"You are all too kind," Eliwood said, laughing.

"Yeah, shut up, tactician," Hector said, ribbing him. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

They travelled all that day without incident, following the map in Ceniro's book. Pent asked about it, but hadn't yet looked. He said he was undecided as to whether he would inform General Douglas and King Mordred of the Shrine's whereabouts or even that they had visited it. Ceniro left it up to him, remembering what Pent had said the year before – that it was only his job to worry about the battles, and not the politics. He trusted him.

.

They camped in another of the old, abandoned fortresses that seemed to litter that part of Bern. After the rest had settled down for sleep, except for the night watch, Ceniro went for a walk along the crumbling battlements. Lyn joined him after a while.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked him.

"It's not that… look at this land under the moonlight. The jagged white mountains, the dark forests…"

"Oh you," she said, and laughed softly.

"What about you?"

"I saw you go."

"Ah, yes, Sacaean sharpness of senses."

"It's not for nothing we say our best can shoot down the stars…"

"Do you shoot at all?"

"I know how. But it's not my best skill. I prefer to engage the enemy directly; I have more control that way."

"I see…"

"Did you want to talk to me about anything in particular?"

"No, why? Did you want to be alone?"

"Oh, never when you're around," he said, smiling. "You know that."

"Do I, though?"

He locked eyes with her. She was just teasing. He hoped. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said readily.

"You're too wild and free to be limited to just me," he said to her.

"Well, I'm not giving my love to all the men in Elibe, either," she retorted. "Or women."

"That's not what I-"

"I know, silly. Why don't you think you're good enough?"

He shrugged. "I don't really have a good answer for you, except… is anyone good enough?"

"I dunno," Lyn teased him. "Now, um… Hector might be a brute, but he's a secretly kind and generous one…"

"…And he shares your sense of humour," he pointed out without missing a beat.

She started. "Really?" She gazed into the distance thoughtfully. "I guess he does. I thought I was more refined than that."

"You are, you just laugh at the same things," Ceniro said. "And the things you said are true, he is a good man. And he is a lord, he could do much better for you than I could."

"I don't want better." She slung her arms around his neck, pulling him to face her. "Oh no, don't tell me I've scared you and seeded doubt in your mind?"

"Um…" She had, but he didn't want to admit it. He had to stay strong.

Abruptly she yanked his head down to mash her lips into his, and he gave a muffled squeak even as his arms tightened around her. And then he made a noise low in his throat, almost a growl – who knew that such a noise could come out of him? – and he gently, gently pinned her against the wall – although she could break free easily if she wanted to. She made a delighted hum into his mouth as his hands caressed the curves of her sides.

She giggled when they broke apart. "That was nice."

He had been thinking with half his brain, even as the other half was completely overwhelmed by the situation he was in. "You know… if you did want to go with him… I wouldn't stop you. He would be a much better choice for you."

"Ceniro, shut up. Stop saying that. Don't make me-" and her eyes changed to determination and she pulled him back in for more kisses.

His brain was slowly melting, both halves. Dimly, he hoped they weren't attacked at that moment, because he would not be able to function properly, and probably neither would Lyn…

"Ceniro! Ceniro?" came floating up from the farseer in its pouch at his belt. He growled again in annoyance – Lyn giggled – and pulled it out.

"Eliwood?"

"Legault has something to tell us. Can you meet us at the eastern gate? And can you find Lyndis, too?"

"Lyn's with me," he said.

"Oooh," Hector said, obviously listening in from next to Eliwood.

"Please don't," Ceniro said, still nettled and not entirely in his right mind. "We'll be right there."

"Trouble?" Lyn asked.

Ceniro huffed and nodded.

She laughed and reached up to pat his head, although he was only an inch or two taller than she was. "You're cute when you're disgruntled."

He blinked at her, uncomprehending, and she brushed past him with a smile to jog down the stairs to the gate.

Legault was crouched in the shadows just outside the gate, staring out into the woods. Eliwood and Hector were standing behind him on either side, looking in the same direction.

"What happened?" Ceniro asked.

Legault looked up at him. "Little Nino's run off, and Jaffar with her."

"But… why?" Lyn asked.

"She… wants to talk to her mother."

"That's all?"

"She's a good lass. She's not abandoning you, certainly not for that woman. It's a loose end she doesn't want to leave lying around, though."

"Fair enough," Lyn said. "We're not just going to let them go alone, though, right?"

"Certainly not," Eliwood said. "We're following them right away, if we can." He looked at Ceniro.

"I can pick some people," Ceniro said. "Sonia is probably a fearsome opponent. But our allies need rest, too. I won't take everyone."

"That's fine," Eliwood said. "We're in your hands. Right, Hector?"

"Hector?" Lyn asked, when Hector made no answer.

"He killed Leila," Hector said quietly. "Jaffar's a murderer and I can't forgive him. Even to have him in the group disturbs me. Do we need his strength so much we must save him, too?"

"No, that's not it," Eliwood said. "I wanted those two to live on. Their lives… They've been so hard. That's why we need to follow them, not for their strength. My feelings were confirmed in Bern. The Black Fang is not all evil. They're being manipulated by Nergal. Some of them must be fighting against their better judgment."

"Is that what you think about Jaffar?" Hector demanded.

"I don't know," Eliwood said. "But he's changed, certainly. He's no longer… completely emotionless."

"A soulless husk," Legault muttered. "That's what I said when I first saw him a few months back. But you're right. He cares for little Nino."

"I think you're both right," Lyn said. "Ceniro?"

"I-I… yes, you're right. Hector, you don't think he's changed even a little?"

"It doesn't matter," Hector snapped. "He's my enemy. He always will be. But don't think I won't go along with you! He has to live… so he can suffer for what he's done! There! Happy yet?"

"Hector…" Eliwood began.

Hector took a deep breath, let it out, and turned to Eliwood with a normal smile. "I'm done. I said my piece. No more ranting from me. Now hurry up, Ceniro, pick our soldiers!" He began to stride off into the woods. "Lyn, if Ceniro's farseer doesn't work so well in the dark, we'll need your tracking skills. Come on!"

"W-wait!" Lyn cried. "Honestly, it's hot and cold with you! So annoying…"

.

The farseer could track Nino, since she was an ally, and they travelled maybe an hour to the east to the foot of a mountain. An old but graceful structure was buried at its foot, built around a tall waterfall.

If the Black Fang had posted sentries, they were impossible to see in the shadows. "Legault, where would they have put sentries around here?"

"They'll be hiding beneath those overhangs," Legault said, pointing.

"Ah, okay. I see. Then Wil, Louise, Rath, try to take them out, silently. I see one there, one there, and one there."

"There's also two behind that pillar."

"Eliwood, Lyn, get those two."

They were not further challenged as they moved quickly towards the gate. Ceniro felt a moment of concern at robbing his best troops of a proper night's sleep, but there was not much sense in worrying overly much about it – Sonia was dangerous, and he needed the best to counter her. And the stealthiest, so he had not brought Wallace or Serra – although Serra could probably be trusted to hold her tongue – and he had not brought Matthew, because he feared that the thief would have even more problems with 'helping' Jaffar than Hector did.

Instead, he had brought the original members of Lyn's Legion, Kent, Sain, and Wil, and the three Pegasus Sisters, and Pent and Louise. He also brought Lucius, Raven and Priscilla, Rath, and Canas.

The door was slightly open. "Someone must have passed through here in a hurry," Lyn said. "I hope that's not a bad sign."

"Maybe it was Nino?" Eliwood said.

"No, it's not her," Ceniro said. "She's still inside. There's Jaffar – he's finally showing up – and a lady Sage. I assume that's Sonia."

"Let's get in there!" Eliwood said, and Ceniro let him creep forward to slip inside the door.

There was an antechamber, and another door, into the Water Temple proper. The sound of voices could be heard clearly.

The first thing Ceniro heard clearly was Jaffar saying sternly "Stay back. I will take care of this woman."

Sonia laughed, a harsh and brittle laugh. "'Stay back!' How noble of you! Perhaps you have changed after all. No matter. I pass judgement on you as traitors to the Black Fang. I sentence you to death!"

"I won't allow that!" Eliwood cried, slamming the inner doors open. Ceniro hurried the others inside – he didn't put it past Sonia to have rigged the doors to shut, and leaving Eliwood in there alone would be disaster, despite the lord's amazing martial skills. Jaffar was crouched defensively in front of Nino, who was cowering, signs of fresh tears on her cheeks. "Nino, Jaffar, are you okay?"

Sonia laughed again. "Such sweet and loyal friends you have made, Nino. But to a one, they shall all die!"

The door swung shut behind them, as Ceniro feared. Jaffar darted forward, but Sonia disappeared, teleporting a short way away. The Temple was filled with water, except for a series of narrow stone walkways winding their way through in a meandering, maze-like fashion to a dias at the far end. "You are the wicked ones who hurt my Lord Nergal. I will not let you die quickly!" Sonia said from her new vantage point, but she did not begin casting – yet. "I'll create paths for you to come to me. But if you prefer to stay where you are and die there, suit yourself! The only certainty you can count on is that you will die."

She teleported away to the distant dias, and from hidden passages around the room, Black Fang soldiers began to emerge, including a large number of wyvern riders. No, not Black Fang… Ceniro caught a glimpse of one, and the golden eyes were enough to confirm his suspicions – this group of Black Fang was not populated by the missing mercenaries of Elibe, but by pure morphs.

Legault tested the door. "Sealed with magic. Only way out is to kill her. Not like that's any great loss."

"Well then," Pent said drily. "We'd best get to her before she starts casting Bolting on us, eh, Ceniro?"

Canas was at Nino's side, talking to her in a kindly way. "It's all right, miss. We've come to help you. Just follow Ceniro's directions, and we'll all go back to camp together, all right?"

"I'm s-so s-sorry!" Nino sobbed. "I just wanted – and she's not even my real mother!"

"Well that explains a lot," Hector said. "Ceniro! Your orders?"

"Narrow walkways will make it difficult to fight, except for Eliwood. Probably slippery too, so Kent, Sain, Rath, Priscilla, you may wish to dismount. If you feel you can handle it, stay mounted, though. Mobility will be important. Pent, Louise, Wil, Rath, Nino, Lucius, Canas, those wyverns are going to be dangerous in a few moments. Can you take them out while I co-ordinate everyone else?"

"Just leave it to us!" Wil sang out, nocking an arrow to his bow.

"Jaffar, Lyn, as the most agile, move on to the next platform. Eliwood-"

Jaffar was leaping lightly across the flagstones to the next wide area, but as Lyn moved forward to follow, there was a click and the stone beneath her feet began to sink into the water. "Whoa!"

Hector's arm shot out and grabbed Lyn's waist, letting her pull herself to dry ground. "Here you go!"

She stood beside him, eyes frazzled. "Th-thanks. For helping."

He shrugged. "Mm. Did you get wet?"

She laughed a little. "That's not a problem. I'm fine."

"That's good," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed way.

Lyn frowned at him, uncertain. "Hector… are you okay?"

"Lyn, do you think it's possible to jump that gap?" Ceniro said. "I'd rather Jaffar didn't take on that many axe-wielders alone."

"Why not?" Hector mumbled, but Lyn looked appraisingly at the gap.

"Yes, I think I can make that. Don't know if Hector can, though…"

"Hey! I can totally make it over there, even if I have to swim. Just go, crazy lady."

"Everyone look out!" Nino shrilled, and Ceniro looked up in time to see a small thundercloud forming over his head.


	7. Chapter 7: Cog of Destiny

Chapter 7: Cog of Destiny

.

Ceniro felt something tackle him, and he and his rescuer tumbled heavily to the floor as the CRACK-BOOM of a lightning bolt struck just where he had been standing. He narrowly missed cracking his head or the farseer on the floor, but that was a small matter.

The person on his back rolled off and a green armoured hand was extended to him. "You all right?" Sain said.

"Yes, thanks."

"Thank Kent, he's the one who got you out of there."

"Thanks, Kent. Everybody, move forward as fast as possible! Pegasus knights, help transport people if necessary. Louise, can you send a few arrows towards – never mind." Jaffar was cutting through his opponents like a river through the mountains. Ceniro partly regretted not being able to see the end of the duel between him and Karel, except he wanted both of those swordsmen alive. "Priscilla, you have that staff I gave you?"

She reached back and pulled out the Silence staff. "This one?"

"Can you use it on Sonia?"

"She's still too far away for me…"

"That's fine. We'll get you closer. In fact… Florina! Take Priscilla up to that platform. Have her cast and then come back."

"There's no guarantee the staff will work," Pent warned him, as Ceniro followed Eliwood across the gap in the platforms – and the missing tile rose again to the surface, while other tiles elsewhere in the maze disappeared beneath the water. "It depends on the willpower of the respective users."

"It's worth a shot, though," Ceniro called back. "Everyone, move up while the path is clear! Don't let those wyverns get close to us!"

"Pathways and courtesies?" Hector said, looking at the maze alter itself before their eyes. "I suppose she's being a gracious hostess, is that it?"

Jaffar snorted as they caught up to him. "Hardly. She wants to toy with us like a cat and her prey."

Hector rolled his eyes and Nino started apologizing again and Lyn began comforting her again.

"It's not working," Priscilla said. "I'm draining the power of the staff. Maybe if I get in really close?"

"We'll have to dodge Bolting all the way there is the only problem," Ceniro said, as Pent reached up to shield his wife from another lightening bolt. Canas was struck full on by one, but all he did was reach up to smooth down his purple hair that was suddenly standing on end. It must be nice, Ceniro thought, to have an affinity advantage against such a long range attack.

"I'm sorry," Priscilla said.

"Don't be. Florina, bring her back. Lucius, there's some shamans requiring your attention to your far right…"

"Nino," said Eliwood, kneeling beside her as they approached the final stage, "we must defeat Sonia and sever the connection between Nergal and the Black Fang. So they can go back to who they were, if they can. For a better future for all of us."

Nino sniffed and nodded. "I'll do it."

"You don't have to," Ceniro said. "That's why I brought Canas. Arrows, I think, will just bounce off her… Jaffar might have a go, if Canas's magic isn't enough…"

"No…" Nino said. "It has to be me. I have to be the one to do it…"

"In that case, I have something for you," Ceniro said, and fished around in his belt pouch until he found the Afa's Drops. "I'm not sure how this is supposed to be used, but it'll help your abilities and talents."

"Oh! Wow. Thank you!" She peered at them. "I drink it right?" She looked around at Canas and Pent for confirmation, and pulled the stopper and tipped it into her mouth. "Okay. I'm ready, then."

"Be careful," was all Ceniro could say. If she wanted to talk to Sonia yet again, that was her own affair. "Jaffar, watch her."

Jaffar nodded and followed Nino up the steps to Sonia, staying always several feet behind her – but Ceniro knew he could cross that distance in the blink of an eye.

"You look so much like your parents," Sonia said quietly as Nino approached her. "And just as naive – so naive it made me want to vomit."

"I always thought you were my true mother… But Eliwood and Lyn are right. No true mother would treat her daughter like you treated me."

"I dressed in rags and entered their house with a child in my arms…" She snickered. "They were truly concerned. Trusting strangers is foolish! Oh, they came to regret their trust, but it was too late!"

"Ahhh!" Nino cried in pain and disgust. "You're no perfect being! You're a monster in human form!"

"She's a morph," Jaffar said, and Sonia's hand flicked out. The assassin was knocked down the stairs by a pile of ice. At Ceniro's gesture, Canas healed him, and he rolled to his feet and hastened up the steps again.

"Jaffar knows nothing of the matter," Sonia said coldly. "You say I am a monster, but who are you to judge, you worthless infant?"

Nino clenched her little fists. "You're getting nothing from me! No mercy! No forgiveness!"

The two spellcasters said no more, but went to their deadly work. Sonia stood tall and slim in her black silk gown, letting Nino's spells blow past her while concocting larger ones of her own – Fimbulvetr to counter Nino's Elfire. Nino ran back and forth, her natural childish energy serving her well in dodging Sonia's attacks.

"She's draining herself quickly," Pent murmured to Ceniro. "She's a prodigy, but not even she will outlast Sonia."

"Let me know when she's getting close and I'll have Jaffar pull her out and have the Pegasus knights triangle attack-"

A stray mass of ice exploded over the group as they watched, and when the shards had finished raining down into the water around them, Lyn was down, her face white as chalk, and Jaffar was clutching his chest, an icicle embedded there.

Nino screamed. "Don't hurt my friends!" Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she flung her hands out towards Sonia blindly. An immense wind blasted around her and towards Sonia, a wind filled with ice and flames.

"How could you… I am… perfect," Sonia gasped, and fell to the ground. Nino staggered away, lightheaded, and flung herself on Jaffar.

"Jaffar! Please… please don't die!" She sniffled, and sagged, passing out over the wounded body of her guardian. Her headband had fallen off in the battle and her neat green bob was mussed and tangled.

"She's exhausted," Pent observed, having healed Lyn and turning now to Jaffar. "She's used far more of her energy than is safe. But… Saint Elimine, that was incredible."

Jaffar grunted and stirred, sitting up with Nino in his arms. She gasped as she came to. "Jaffar? You're all right! Oh, thank goodness… Thank goodness…" She made no protest as the assassin stood, still carrying her.

"Come on," Eliwood said, smiling at her. "You did it; you saved us all. Let's go back to camp and rest. We'll need it." The maze appeared stable now, a winding solid line back to the door.

She nodded sleepily. But after they had gone a few paces, she wriggled. "I can walk, Jaffar, put me down. You did so much fighting, you must be so tired…"

"No," he said. "The mage said you used too much of your energy. I will carry you."

Florina made gestures at Fiora, who translated for Jaffar. "She could ride with Florina. It will be no trouble for Huey."

"It's no trouble for me either," Jaffar said monotonously, and Fiora rolled her eyes and left him alone.

A lone squat figure peered through the front gate and Nino gave a cry of joy. "Uncle Jan!" Now Jaffar put her down, and she ran to the old man and flung her arms around him. "You're all right! After what Sonia said, I was so afraid for you…"

"I'm all right, lass. I'm happy to see you alive. Is… is that woman…"

"She's dead," Nino declared, raising her head with an angry look. "I killed her." And she burst into tears again. "She was going to kill everyone! She already… She already killed Father, didn't she?"

"I'm sorry, Nino… I'm just a cowardly old man. I could do nothing to help your father…"

"She won't hurt anyone anymore," Nino sobbed. "She can't hurt me anymore. She wasn't even my real mother. She has no hold over me!"

"Shh, shh," Jan soothed her, holding her close. "So you learned the truth. The commander looked into it, and… I have something for you." He reached into an inner pocket on his vest and pulled out a small golden pendant.

"Oh!" said Nino's mouth, and her hands made a similar shape.

"This belonged to your mother. It was in the keeping of a woman who once worked for your house. It gave her much happiness to know that you still lived. This is yours now."

Nino opened the pendant and stared as if transfixed at whatever was inside. Then she looped it over her head and gave Jan a blinding smile. "Thank you so much! I will treasure it."

"What will you do now, lass?"

She glanced over at Lyn and Eliwood, waiting patiently closer to the door. "I'm going to go with them. Sonia's master still wants to destroy the world, and I can help them."

"That will be very dangerous."

"I know. I'll be all right. Maybe we'll meet Lloyd and Linus! You don't know where they might have gone, do you?"

"I don't know… but what's left of the true Black Fang, the ones who are still human, they're with them. I hope they're all right. They could rebuild the guild back into who and what we once were."

"I hope I get to see them again. What about you, Uncle Jan?"

"I'm going to retire for good," said the old man. "My adventuring days are long gone."

"Stay safe!" Nino said. "When this is over, I will come find you again, I promise. The Black Fang… the old Black Fang, before Sonia ruined it… you were my family. I want to see you again, when it's safe."

"Saint Elimine be with you," Jan said, and waved.

Nino waved back, smiling as bravely as she could, and trotted to the door.

Hector made an 'I'm watching you' sign to Jaffar, and followed Eliwood in the same direction.

"So," Pent said to Canas. "You are the one called Canas, aren't you?"

"Indeed I am," Canas replied.

"Then you are the one Ceniro told me to speak to!" Pent said with delight. "Truly, your control over elder magic is astounding."

"My goodness, thank you," Canas replied. "I am truly only a scholar at heart, not a fighter. I'm sorry, I missed your name…?"

"You must be really absentminded," Hector said. "This is only the guy our tactician has been fanboying over since we set out on this journey."

Canas blinked at Hector.

Pent laughed. "Don't mind him. My name is Pent."

Canas stopped walking. "Not… Lord Pent, Mage General of Etruria?"

"Well, I suppose that's true," Pent said, with a brief bow. "But I'm always happy to meet a fellow scholar…"

"Lord Pent! In the flesh!" Canas cried. "My wife will not believe this! She's an anima magic user, you see. Why, she thinks you're the bees knees."

Pent laughed again, somewhat embarrassed. "Indeed? I must admit that personally I would dearly like to hear your story. It's not every day that one meets a scholar-turned-shaman…"

"Um, excuse me…" Nino spoke up.

"Yes, child?" Pent asked.

"Um, forgive my rudeness, but if you're the Mage General of Etruria… I, um, could I ask for some magic lessons? Canas is going to teach me to read, but he can't help very much with my magic…"

Pent smiled. "I'm not sure how much you might need after your display back there! But certainly, I can give you some lessons. Have you met Erk yet?"

"I saw him today in camp? But no, I haven't really met him…"

"He is my student, too. I can teach you both at the same time, if you so wish."

Nino clapped her hands. "That would be amazing! Thank you so much! I don't wish to be a bother, but I really want to get better."

"I am pleased to be of service," Pent said, bowing to her. She giggled and skipped ahead to walk next to Jaffar again.

"Such a sweet child," Canas said fondly. "I hope my son is something like her… I've only known her a short time, but she just draws one to her with her kindness."

"I'm glad our leaders decided to help her," Pent answered. "You have a son? Louise and I have been hoping for children, but no luck so far."

"Yes, his name is Hugh, and he is nearly two years old. My mother is hoping he'll also become a shaman like me and the other members of my family…"

"It's a little early for that, isn't it?" Pent asked.

Canas frowned quizzically. "Well, she raised us the same way, and we turned out all right? Although, my three brothers have succumbed to the darkness, it is true. But that is always the risk with elder magic…"

"Oh dear," Pent said sympathetically.

"But although it scares me, I must continue; my curiousity drives me."

"It's the curse of knowledge. I am the same way; I do understand."

Canas began to poke around in his book bag. "Here, I shall lend you this book. You are interested in elder magic, yes? I bet you have not read this one yet."

"It feels very old," Pent said as he took it. "Who wrote it?"

"Oh, my mother…"

"Your _mother_?"

"Yes, indeed…"

"Who is your mother?" Pent asked in bewilderment.

"Her name is Niime, though some know her as the Mountain Hermit. She-"

"Canas!" Pent interrupted him. "Your mother is the Mountain Hermit!?"

"Er… yes? You know of her?"

"Every mage knows of Niime the Mountain Hermit!" Pent cried. "Excuse me, I must go tell my lady wife Louise. She will never believe this! Louise?"

.

"Eliwood, do we really need to still be wearing our disguises?" Hector complained the next afternoon. "Can't we wear our own crap for this part of the journey? We're not supposed to see anyone who'd recognize us."

"No, we need to keep wearing them," Eliwood said calmly. "It really wouldn't do to be identified so close to our goal, would it? Just in case."

Hector grumbled but subsided. They were tramping along a dusty path among rolling hills, lightly wooded but mostly covered with brush. The land was desolate; all that day they had seen nothing but birds disturbed by their passing. Yet the land felt remote, rather than ominous.

"My problem is not with the weird clothes, but the fact that we're on such a tight time limit and there's no time to wash anything," Lyn said, brushing at her skirt. "Everyone stinks so much."

"It's a human thing," Nils said cheekily, and she laughed.

"I suppose it is. And a horse thing, and a pegasus thing, and a wyvern thing. But I will feel better when we finish this mission and get to a river."

"Do I stink?" Hector asked, sniffing himself.

"You stink most of all," Lyn teased, making a face.

"Do I stink?" Ceniro asked, making puppy eyes.

She reached out and ruffled his hair, covering his eyes and reminding him that he needed a haircut soon. "For you, not so much."

"He's not fighting," Nils said. "The rest of you are always running and jumping and swinging around those giant weapons or casting spells. He's just running."

"So it's not your boyfriend's fault he's not as manly as the rest of us," Hector said, grinning.

Ceniro shook his head in befuddlement. "It's a good thing that doesn't bother me." Then the words caught up to him. "Boyfriend?"

Lyn snorted. "Wait, you thought it was a secret?"

"Um."

Hector laughed. "It's about a secret as much as my best friend and his girl."

"And what about you, Hector, got a girl in mind?" Lyn poked him in the arm.

"Nah, not really. Besides, there's a lot of crazy in this army and I was always told not to date crazy."

"I didn't mean it that way, young master!" Matthew's voice came faintly on the wind.

Lyn's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I'm crazy?"

Hector smirked down at her. "You're crazier than Serra."

Ceniro tensed, ready to break up a fight, but Lyn relaxed. "As long as it's in a good way."

"Just don't let your craziness get you killed," Hector answered.

"Who's that?" Nils asked, pointing suddenly, and Ceniro's farseer appeared in his hand.

"He's reading as neutral," he said. "Though that could just be because he's not close enough to be hostile."

"Where's Eliwood?" Hector asked, looking around at the army trailing after them.

"Right here," Eliwood said, jogging up to them. "I got a little sidetracked, sorry. What's wrong?"

"Probably nothing, but there's someone waiting for us up ahead. You should be here in case it's important."

Behind them, a ripple of quiet spread through the army as they too noticed the man waiting for them.

The man hailed them when they were halfway up the hill to him. "Are you Lord Eliwood of House Pherae?"

Eliwood blinked at Ceniro, who shrugged. "And if I am?"

"We are the Fang, the last loyal servants of Lloyd the White Wolf! You will atone for your sins with blood! You have been given fair warning, now prepare yourselves for death." He turned and vanished over the hill.

"Did he say… Lloyd?" Nino cried, from close behind them. "My brother is here? And more of the Black Fang?" She turned to Ceniro. "Let me go on ahead. I know that man said they were going to kill us, but I can talk to Lloyd. We don't have to fight."

"Wait and see," Ceniro said grimly. "We don't know if Linus talked to anyone. It doesn't seem like it. So stay close for now." He activated the farseer's scan and stared at it. "Lloyd has a lot of troops. We-"

"Ceniro," Lyn said, touching his arm, and he looked up to see a broad valley stretching northwest with a low brown stone structure at the other end. "I think that's our destination."

Ceniro glanced around. "Straight killing ground from here to the Shrine. That is the Shrine, isn't it? And if Lloyd is smart, he'll be waiting there for us, throwing his lackeys at us to slow us down. We'll need to strike hard and fast to get to him without losing any of our own – and possibly not slaying to many of them, either."

"I want to go on ahead," Nino said again. "I can talk to them! They'll know me, and we can prevent this!"

"Nino," Jaffar growled from beside her, "look at them. Their battle-lust is not normal. They hate us with all their conviction."

"But we… I…"

"We were never Fangs," the assassin said grimly. "I served Nergal and you were attached to Nergal's lieutenant Sonia. Lloyd may still hold fondness for you but to the others we were never companions in the first place."

Nino's face crumpled. "I wish that wasn't true… I cared for everyone!"

"But not everyone has your light."

Nino's head dropped and she shuffled back to stand against her bodyguard.

"Your orders?" Eliwood said, at attention beside Ceniro.

Ceniro looked down at the farseer for a good few seconds before taking a deep breath. They couldn't afford to mess this up. "Lots of heavily armoured units dead ahead. We need to smash through them with our cavalry and hit the axemen behind them with our swords. Due west there are a lot of light swordsmen, but also archers, so I won't send out the Pegasus Sisters… North are their cavalry. All right. I'm ready. Nino, stay close to me – we'll get you to your brother."

He turned. "Eliwood, do you want to give them some quick encouragement before I give my orders?"

"I can try," Eliwood said, smiling. "Everyone! This might be a difficult battle, but we're very close to our current goal. Just stay strong a little longer, and fight with all your heart!"

"Of course he'd say something about heart," Hector grumbled, and Lyn giggled.

"Well, what would you say?" she asked.

Hector looked surprised. "Uh… I hadn't thought about it. Public speaking is really not my thing. Probably 'go kick some butt'."

"Very inspiring," she teased him.

"Ceniro?" Eliwood said, having rambled on a little more.

"Marcus, you are leading a charge against their heavy infantry," Ceniro said. "All horse mounted units, form up on Marcus. Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, Nino, Jaffar, we're in their wake. Oswin, you and all the axemen are our northern flank with Canas, Erk, Pent, and Louise for backup. Harken, Raven, Guy, Lucius, Serra, Wil, and Rebecca are our western flank; hold off the swordsmen as best you can. The rest of you, guard Merlinus as he moves up behind us. Except you, Karel – come with the front group; we might need you to fight Lloyd for us."

"I look forward to testing his steel," Karel said with an evil smirk.

"Heath, Fiora, Farina, Florina, there's a wyvern rider behind us. Take them down and then patrol the perimeter until I call you in. Everyone stay together as much as you can! Don't get isolated or you'll get picked off. I'll help as I can. Marcus… charge!"

The battle went as planned for about the first twenty minutes. Ceniro jogged with Lyn and the centre group on foot until they reached a slight bump in the valley floor which gave him a decent view of the Shrine of Seals. If he squinted he could distantly make out the miniature figures of Black Fang soldiers. He wondered which one was Lloyd, the White Wolf, and assumed it was the tall lean one pointing in various directions.

He checked his farseer to see where these directions might send the enemy forces, but it was too early to say for certain. He wanted to get closer, to see what kind of man Lloyd was, to see his eyes with his own eyes, but after the scare Linus had given him, he wasn't sure that was such a good idea as it seemed. Perhaps when more of the underlings had been cleared away, he'd chance it.

He took a deep breath and let it out. Lyn and Eliwood glanced at him, and he nodded. The centre group left him and went on their way in the wake of the mounted knights. He was fine – in a few minutes, Merlinus and his group would join them, and for now he was alone and could see everything both with his own eyes and with the farseer.

The north side of the map was fine. Perhaps he'd fortified it overly much, but the heavy armour and axes of his allies was absorbing the onslaught from the heavy armour of the enemy, and it was definitely where Canas was being most effective. Ahead, to the north-west, the charge of the knights was shaking the ground beneath the enemy assassins, and while the Black Fang members were decently good at dodging, they were not counter-attacking very successfully.

It was to the west that his concern was. He had thought that the army's swordsmen, backed by quick, sharp, accurate light magic, would be enough, but as he watched, they began to be outnumbered and several enemies began to flank them and charge at Lucius and Serra. That was bad, very bad – he hadn't had those two in direct combat in some time. Wil and Rebecca's covering fire was not going to be enough to slow them down. He trusted that Lucius and Serra could evade for a while, but not long enough for Raven to take out their attackers – not while he was locked with two swordsman at one time. Harken was fighting like a hero, with discipline, precision, and power, and was drawing most of the enemies to himself, which helped. "Isadora, I need you to head south immediately – do a sweep to give Lucius and Serra a breather, and then return-"

"Ceniro!" he heard a cry from Fiora and Florina, just before he half-heard, half-felt an immense _whoosh_ – and suddenly he was plucked into the sky by a great claw.

To his credit, he didn't scream – much – but he was certainly panicking. All right. What was holding him?

He glanced up and saw a wyvern. Not the unknown that had been lurking around earlier? Had it evaded the pegasus sisters? Not just any wyvern rider, either. He caught a glimpse of a high-heeled crimson boot, and as the rider leaned over, a flash of bright blonde hair. Vaida!

"What are you doing?" he yelled at her in alarm.

"Don't panic, little man," she called back to him. "I just want to talk."

"There's other ways to talk to a person!"

There were concerned noises from just about everyone in the army, and he realized that he had been shouting over an open channel. He blushed crimson. Not only would that worry Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, and his other close friends, but it was undoubtedly distracting everyone from their fighting.

Vaida's wyvern deposited him on a ledge half-way up the side of a small mountain to the east of his previous position. He staggered at the less-than-gentle landing, his cloak tangling around his arms, before he managed to regain his balance and turn to face her.

She made a tight loop and came in for a landing of her own. Ceniro backed away in a crouch as she dismounted with a graceful bound, her heeled boots crunching on the stone.

"What do you want?" he asked nervously. The wyvern hissed at him and he flinched, backing up slowly as Vaida paced towards him. He could see the distant forms of the pegasus sisters and Heath in the sky, but he was essentially a hostage in this situation. At least he could turn off the open transmission on the farseer and stop distracting everyone, especially the people on the west side of the valley – which he really needed to be overseeing…

"Will you relax?" Vaida growled. "I'm not here on behalf of the Black Fang."

"I guessed that part," Ceniro said, thinking back to how she had left the Black Fang when they had last seen her. "Why did you attack me?"

She laughed, less harshly than he had expected. "You think that was an attack? No, little boy. I'm here on my own agenda, from loyalty to the King of Bern. Tell me, was it you and your playmates who stopped the assassin on Prince Zephiel?"

Ceniro's eyes widened. "How did you know-"

She smiled in satisfaction. "So I was right! I have decided. I will serve you."

"What!?" Of all the things she could have done, that one he was least expecting. He caught movement behind her and held up a hand. "Wait! Fiora, don't attack!"

"What the hell?" Farina's voice carried as the four friendly fliers broke off their attack and shot past the mountainside. "I thought you were attacking this woman before?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Ceniro told her. "Heath, you should join us. Ladies, the archers are gone; the western flank needs your spears _now_." He turned back to Vaida. "Why!? Why would you join us? We're not exactly on King Desmond's side…"

"Prince Zephiel is the future of Bern," Vaida said shortly. "You saved him when he needed saving. Now I will join you to repay the personal debt I feel for your actions."

Ceniro stared at her. She seemed sincere enough.

Heath landed behind Ceniro. "Commander Vaida is always true to her word. My own word may not be much, but I offer it."

"Shut up, Heath," Vaida sneered.

"I trust Heath," Ceniro said to both of them. He glanced back at Heath, and the rider nodded his shaggy green head. "Then Vaida, you can join us." He took a look westward across the valley. The view was even better from up here, across miles of open ground and little forests. Northwards, beyond even his sight from here, was somewhere the mountain border with Sacae. He had walked beyond the horizon with Lyn, once upon a time.

Which was irrelevent, he reminded himself, a sudden gust of wind making him shiver. "Vaida, you and Heath are going to also support the western flank. Isadora, thanks for the assist, you can return to the other mounted knights; we have more allies incoming." He turned back to Vaida. "But first… get me down from here!"

Vaida mock-bowed. "Your wish is my command. Where would you like to go, my lord?"

Ceniro made a face at her sarcasm and glanced down at the battlefield again, both from the mountain and on the farseer. "I need to micromanage the north side. Drop me off near Oswin and then go keep the west from collapsing again."

"Done." She grabbed his arm and bodily hauled him onto the wyvern behind her.

"Maybe I should have gone with Heath," he muttered to himself.

After straightening out a tangle involving Dorcas, Bartre, and a ring-around-the-rosie with three Black Fang fighters and a deadfall of oak trees, he began attempting to make his way back to the lead group with Erk for company.

"Cavalry, form a cordon around the footsoldiers behind you. Don't let Lloyd's guards, second-in-command, anyone, get at the lords while they're talking. Karel, wait for them to finish talking before you begin."

"So dull," Karel answered.

He heard nothing but intermittent clashes until he and Erk broke through the trees and came to the foot of the Shrine. There was a set of steps leading up to a shaded portico, but Lloyd had come down with his closest guards to face Eliwood's group's approach. Legault had been speaking to him, but now he slipped away, and both looked regretful and sad.

"Brother!" Nino cried, running forward.

But Lloyd put up a hand, barring her approach. "Come no closer, little Nino. I am going to kill the people you travel with."

"Why?" she gasped. "They've helped me. They saved my life, and Jaffar's life – they helped me against Sonia!"

"So that woman is no more… That's one piece of good news I can take to Linus, then. If she hasn't already brought it herself."

"Lloyd, they're good people, and you're leading what's left of the good people in the Black Fang – except Uncle Jan, he's okay too. Can't we stop fighting?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Run away, little Nino, run far away. Run from this fighting, because though Eliwood's group has superior numbers and clearly a clever general, I will kill them all myself in revenge. They are the ones who killed Linus."

"We are not your enemy. We didn't kill your brother!" Eliwood cried. " We are fighting those who killed him. Please, the best thing you can do for Mad Dog Linus is to join us, and help us find the ones who did kill him!"

"I received a message from my brother informing me he was engaging Eliwood's band. Hours later, I found only his body and the corpses of his loyal band. I ask you what conclusions you would draw!?"

"We may very well be the last people to see him alive, but we sure didn't kill him!" Hector growled. "Sonia has a master, a man named Nergal. He wants to do a lot more than kill a few good-hearted vigilantes."

"Shut up!" Lloyd shouted, and Nino cowered. "There is nothing left for me in this life!"

Eliwood stepped forward, his weapon lowered. "If you kill us, what then?" Ceniro tensed; it wasn't what he would do.

Lloyd raised his chin, cool as ice. "We shall have to see, won't we?"

Even as Lloyd began to launch into a blur of motion, another blur darted past Eliwood and flung itself at Lloyd.

"Please stop," Nino sobbed, clinging to Lloyd's middle. "I'll come with you, if you want, just please, don't kill them. They're not bad. They couldn't have done it."

Lloyd carressed Nino's green hair. "It's all right, little one. This is the only way. Don't come with me. I am going to die. You must live for the future. Run away, don't look back, and live."

"No… No! I don't want to! Lloyd!"

"I won't hurt you, these men were Linus's enemies. If you get in my way again, I won't hold back."

"You will do no such thing," Jaffar said, appearing behind Nino, ready to snatch her away.

"Angel of Death… I always wondered how we would fare in straight combat against each other. It is time to see who would win, is it not?"

"Please…" Nino said. "Not him…"

Lloyd sighed. "Little Nino, you see good in the oddest places…"

"Enough!" Karel strode forward. "I'm getting bored. If you're so good, White Wolf, then face me! My blade hungers and the tiny tactician promised your blood."

Ceniro gulped. That sounded… really bad the way Karel said it.

"The Sword Demon, huh?" Lloyd was back to ice. Jaffar tugged Nino away as Lloyd readied his sword. "So Eliwood would employ even a demon in his pursuit of our destruction…"

There was a blinding flash as the two master swordsmen leapt at each other, the sun flickering off their blades.

Nino clung to Jaffar, whimpering "No… no… why…?"


	8. Chapter 8: The Berserker and Roland

Chapter 8: The Berserker and Valourous Roland

.

A heavy clang echoed across the valley as Lloyd and Karel's katanas met. It looked like they had used the same type of attack at the same time. The blades locked for a moment, then they sprang away from each other, whirling, Karel's robe and Lloyd's longcoat swirling behind them.

Ceniro found himself holding his breath. This was a dazzling show of skill; it was too tragic that it would inevitably end in Lloyd's death. Lloyd himself seemed to know that, from what he had said to Nino.

There wasn't any way for him to stop it now. Karel would fight until one or the other of them died, and he suspected Lloyd would do the same. And if Karel fell and not Lloyd, then one by one the members of Eliwood's group would step forward until Lloyd did fall. But watching him… Ceniro wondered if there was anyone else who could even come close to matching him.

The valley was silent except for the two flashing swords and the light footsteps of their swordsmen.

They charged at each other again, Karel's long dark hair streaming behind him like a comet's tail, but this time both fighters gave a grunt of pain. Nino gasped.

They both paused and turned to each other. Lloyd was clutching his shoulder, where his leather coat had been sliced through – but Karel had a hand pressed to his chest, which was trickling blood from a long slice.

Both men looked down at their wounds, catching their breath, then looked up at each other and smiled. It was the smile of those who had forgotten everything except the rush of battle. Ceniro shivered. He had seen that smile a few times in his life, and it never boded well for anyone involved.

When they charged again, they were even faster than before. Circling each other, sparks flying from their swords, they were entirely lost to the outside world. They seemed to be evenly matched; it was whoever made the first mistake who would lose. Even their newly-acquired scratches didn't seem to affect them at all.

"What is he?" Lyn murmured. "He's definitely not Sacaean… but he moves exactly like one."

They lunged at each other again. This wasn't an easy fight for either of them; Lloyd was certainly making Karel work for it. Sweat was dripping down the White Wolf's face, and he was panting heavily, but Karel wasn't looking altogether as composed as he had been, and his dark hair was beginning to fall into his face.

It seemed like ages they stood and watched, the katanas humming through the air, neither gaining any strikes on the other. Ceniro wondered what was going through their minds, if they were truly entirely lost in the skill and rhythm of the fight, or if they were thinking about other things. If Lloyd was thinking about his brother, still – or Nino. If Karel really had an unstoppable bloodlust that cared for nothing besides winning.

No, he decided again, it was too late for all of that.

There was another blur of movement, and this one did not end in a clang. Nino gasped.

Karel's Wo Dao dripped with blood, and Lloyd was clutching his stomach. The Black Fang leader fell to one knee, propped up on his sword.

"Lloyd!" Nino cried, agonized.

Lloyd raised his head and smiled at her, a warm, brotherly smile. Then he turned to Karel. "…Well…? …Finish me."

There was a blur like a striking snake, and Karel did so.

Nino sobbed.

.

Eliwood leaned on his rapier heavily. "I wish… things had been otherwise…"

"I still don't understand," Lyn said. "Why did he think we killed his brother?"

"Nergal's agents must have gotten to Linus first," Hector said grimly. "We did destroy most of that guy's guard first. Even though he himself was a great fighter… he could have been taken by surprise. He seemed less cautious than this guy here."

Lyn nodded. "That makes sense." She looked up at the shrine that cast welcome shade over them. "We can't worry about that much now. What's done is done. What now?"

"I guess we go inside?" Eliwood said, glancing at Ceniro for confirmation.

"That would be a good idea, but I don't see a door…" Ceniro said slowly, looking from the farseer to the building and back again.

"I will take you inside," said a new voice, and they turned to see Athos standing there.

Lyn blinked. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Athos said. "I warped in after I saw you had successfully arrived."

"Why didn't you just warp us all in?" Hector grumbled, half under his breath – Ceniro wondered if it was his attempt to not be rude to a very powerful man over a thousand years old.

Athos spread his hands. "What would that have accomplished? You may have the knowledge of Nergal's plots, but do you have the willpower, the inner strength, to actually stop him? It is not lightly that I would ask my colleague to release the ancient weapons to you. Now we must go to meet him – underground."

"Who are we meeting, sir?" Eliwood asked.

"His name is Bramimond. You will know him as one of the Eight Legends. Only he and I remain of their number…"

"And these weapons…" Ceniro began.

"They are the ones we, the Eight, used to defeat the dragons. They are sealed each in their own lands across the continent, and only Bramimond is able to remove the seals. First, however, I have a gift for you." He reached out and presented Eliwood with a Heaven's Seal.

Eliwood received it. "Thank you very much, sir!" He turned to Ceniro. "It's a third one! You said something about waiting for a third one."

"Oh, right," Ceniro said, digging in his pockets. He found the other two and gave them to Lyn and Hector. "I'm not sure how you use those, but… use them now."

"A very good idea," Athos said. "All you must do is take it in your hands and focus on it."

Lyn squeaked: her Heaven's Seal was glowing with bright white light. It spread, and she vanished from view behind it. Eliwood and Hector followed suit.

When Ceniro could see his friends again, they looked similar, but… stronger, somehow. Physically they were unchanged, but their eyes sparkled with an inner determination, they stood straighter, and they almost seemed to glow.

"Wow," Eliwood said.

"You look different, Hector," Lyn said.

"You don't," Hector teased. "Seriously, Ceniro, how do we look?"

"Like you could all take on Karel with one hand," Ceniro said, smiling.

Hector grinned and flexed. "Heh. I feel like a beast."

"You kind of are," Lyn sniffed. "But I feel like I could cross Sacae running non-stop."

"I feel… I feel great," Eliwood said, and chuckled, looking down at his hands.

"All right!" Hector gave him a high-five. "Nothing can stop us now!"

Athos beckoned. "This power is your birthright, unlocked through the seals. You will need it to claim the Legendary Weapons. Come. You have proven yourselves worthy." He beckoned to Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector, but Eliwood took Ceniro's arm.

"Our tactician should come, too."

"It's all right," Ceniro said. "I'd just get in the way. I'll make sure the army is patching itself up…?"

Eliwood shook his head. "Marcus can do that. I'm not leaving you out of this now. Come with us."

"Young Ceniro may come as well," Athos said, and raised his hand.

After a flash of light, they were left in complete darkness. After a moment, Ceniro saw a white-haired, white-bearded face – Athos. The archsage's staff gently illuminated their immediate vicinity. Ceniro could see the other three, faintly.

"So creepy," Hector muttered.

There was a rustling. The young people froze, hands inching towards weapons.

Eliwood stiffened and turned suddenly, and was face-to-face with an almost invisible person of indeterminate gender, cloaked in a black robe with a hood. "…You must be Bramimond."

"That is a name connected to me," the figure said non-committally. "What do you want of me?"

Lyn stepped forward, both shy and forthright. "We… seek a favour of you. We need weapons to defeat Nergal…"

"I cannot grant that favour," Bramimond said, his voice ethereal in the darkness. "Humanity would suffer greatly if I were to release the seals."

"Humanity is going to suffer greatly anyway!" Hector cried, stepping in front of Lyn. "He's going to destroy the whole world if we don't stop him! Give us this power!" At Eliwood's look, he added: "…Please."

"The whole world?" Bramimond said sharply, his voice suddenly deeper. "Why should I care about that? It can burn for all the good the weapons will do it!"

"I don't understand," Eliwood said, calm and reasonable. "Lord Athos said that these weapons were our only hope to defeat Nergal, to stop him from releasing dragons back into our world. Surely you would not want your victory a thousand years ago to be wasted…"

"You are correct that you do not understand," Bramimond said, abruptly serene. "You do not know what I know about these weapons."

"Your voice…" Ceniro said. "It keeps changing…"

"But you mentioned Athos."

"I am here, old friend," Athos said, finally stepping forward to join the others. "And I am glad you remember me. Yes, Bramimond has no true self. He… it… has as many personalities as there are people facing him."

"I cannot fathom why you would bring these people here," Bramimond said, and turned away into the blackness. "Have you forgotten? These weapons are not meant for mortal hands. That is why I sealed them away."

"May I ask a question?" Ceniro piped up.

"Ask," Athos answered for Bramimond.

"Why were modern humans able to find the Staff of Saint Elimine?"

Bramimond paused and half glanced at him. "…It is not a weapon."

"I see. Thank you."

"Please," Eliwood said. "We can't do this on our own. Even if these weapons kill us… we have to save the rest of the people in the world."

Bramimond did not reply.

"Bramimond, remember… We, too, are human," Athos said. "These people, they will not be seduced by power. They came here without my aid, using their own abilities. You observed them, did you not?"

"I did," Bramimond said. "It is true, they seem more pure, more idealistic than most humans. Stronger, too. But humans are frail, in body and mind. What guarantee do I have that they will not succumb to that frailty, Athos?"

Eliwood bowed his head and answered before Athos could. "There is no guarantee. You will have to believe in us… as we believe in ourselves."

Bramimond turned back to him and studied him for a long time. Eliwood met the unseen gaze, unmoving.

"Once there was a man much like you," the shadow said eventually. "His gaze never wavered, but always looked towards his goal." He paused, and some kind of ripple seemed to radiate outwards from him, unseen, unheard, but Ceniro could feel it brush past him and it ruffled their hair and cloaks.

"I am tired now," Bramimond said. "Leave me to rest. Take your pick of the weapons. Farewell." He vanished back into the darkness, and Athos immediately warped them back to the sunset-drenched field below the shrine. Ninian, Nils, and several of the knights were waiting for them, and smiled to see them back. Nino and Jaffar were not there.

Lyn fell to her knees, burying her fingers in the grass. "Oh, the sweet wind…"

"Man, it's good to be outside after that," Hector said, throwing his head back and sniffing the wind himself.

"He's very mysterious," Eliwood said to Athos. "I wish we could know him better. But what convinced him to release the seals? Surely it wasn't me or my words…"

Athos paused. "I do not know for certain. But I believe… he looked out again, and saw Nergal's true aura – an impenetrable, unnatural darkness, a warping of Elder Magic. But now we must hurry. Nergal will have sensed the breaking of the seals, and he will contest us for the weapons-"

"You're already too late," said a grim voice from the side of the shrine, and they turned to see Nergal glaring down at them.

"You-!" Eliwood cried, his sword appearing in his hand. Only Athos's warning gesture prevented him from leaping at the dark-robed figure.

Hector slowly unhooked his axe from his side, and Lyn rose, her own sword in her hand. The knights followed suit and stood ready to act, looking to Ceniro for orders. Ceniro stood powerless, since without the legendary weapons, attack was suicide. But if Nergal decided to just wipe them out here and now…

They had escaped him before, without legendary weapons, and they could escape him again. But last time, Lord Elbert had died for them. Who would make the sacrifice this time?

"My power is restored," Nergal said quietly. "The unsealing of the Legendary Weapons means nothing to either of us. Ninian! Nils! Come to me and open the Dragon's Gate."

"No!" Ninian cried, clinging to her brother.

"Never!" Nils shouted, holding his sister protectively.

"Would you like me to demonstrate my power here and now?" Nergal growled, lifting his hand.

"You mustn't go!" Eliwood shouted, moving in front of both of them. "Run, both of you! We'll hold him off…" Unspoken was the knowledge that Nergal could teleport as well as Athos could, and Ninian and Nils would not run far before they were caught again – and the rest of the army utterly destroyed.

"Wait!" Ninian cried, stepping forward and laying a hand on Eliwood's arm. But she spoke to Nergal. "I-if… If I go with you, will you let my brother go?"

"Ninian! Don't!" Nils begged, taking her hand. She didn't turn her eyes away from Nergal.

Ceniro pressed the back of his hand against his mouth. She was making the sacrifice play for all of them – but wasn't she also giving Nergal exactly what he needed? If they lived now, would they even live long enough to acquire a weapon, any weapon, and make it back to Nergal to save her before the dragons came?

Nergal nodded. "One of you should be enough. Come here."

"Ninian," Nils said, on the verge of tears. "No! Why?"

She turned to him and embraced him. "Look after Lord Eliwood for me." There was a flash of light between them, so bright Ceniro had to look away.

The next thing he saw was Ninian backing away from them all, towards Nergal. Her eyes were fixed on Eliwood, who was staring back helplessly, his sword loose in his hand.

Then Eliwood dropped his sword, lunged forward, and kissed Ninian full on the mouth. He murmured something to her, something that sounded like "Don't go…" and she shook her head.

"I detest long goodbyes," Nergal said, and stepped forward, seizing Ninian's arm.

Eliwood's face instantly collapsed into rage. "Hold still!" He swept up his rapier back into his hand again and brought it up to attack. "Demon!"

"No, get down!" Athos shouted, although his words were largely futile – Hector was running forward, Lyn was running forward, the knights were running forward… _Nils_ was running forward…

The ground shook and something like an explosion knocked them all backwards…

.

Ceniro slowly came to. He was lying on a small bed by a white-washed wooden wall. He wiggled his toes, enjoying the feeling of not having boots on.

Louise and Erk's anxious faces appeared above him, and the memories of the shrine slammed into him like a runaway cart. "Where's-"

"Lord Eliwood is alive, but still unconscious," Erk said, balancing a staff on his shoulder. "The others who were hit by the blast are in various states of recovery. It was fortunate that Lord Athos was there to shield you all."

Ceniro sat up and put a hand to his head. "Yes, yes it was. Ninian's really gone?"

Their faces grew longer. "Yes," Louise said. "We searched for her, for a short time, even though Lord Athos said it was futile. But I fear she is on her own for now. Eliwood will be upset when he wakes."

"Yeah," Ceniro said, rubbing his head. "Yeah." He looked at both of them. "How much time do we have, does anyone know?"

"Before Nergal completes… whatever he's doing?" Erk asked. "No one knows. But I think Lord Athos has a plan of some kind."

"We need it," came Lyn's voice, and Ceniro looked up to see her. She had a bruise on her cheek, covered in dirt and blood, and she looked tired and unhappy, despite her Heaven's Seal-granted power boost. "Neither Hector nor I know what to do, and I'm sure Eliwood doesn't know either. We don't know where these weapons are, or what they are, or what they can do." She looked at Louise. "I'm sure Lord Pent knows something, but he's still talking with Athos in Eliwood's room."

"So for now, you should rest," Louise said gently. "When the mages start talking about arcane unintelligible things, sometimes that's the best thing you can do. Come sit with us, you've had a long day."

Lyn smiled wanly. "We all have. And we need to start marching back out again, soon, too. And first we need to bury the bodies of the Black Fang so that King Desmond finds no trace of us."

"I think Miss Nino was already working on that with some people," Erk said. "What exactly are you speaking of with these weapons?"

Lyn sat down on the edge of Ceniro's bed and ran a hand through her tangled ponytail. "The weapons wielded by the Eight Legends… we're going to find them to use against Nergal."

"Do we have time to do that?" Erk asked.

"That's what we want to know," Ceniro mumbled anxiously. "But I'm worried about what Bramimond said. Just how dangerous are these weapons? I thought they were… well, you know, powerful enough to kill dragons, but they're still just weapons, right?"

"That's a good question," Erk said. "Let me think… The Legendary spells undoubtedly cause collateral damage of some kind. Forblaze, Aureola… legendary magic power is not easily controlled."

"I can see that you, Lady Lyn, and Eliwood and Hector are being set up to take a weapon each," Louise said. "Lord Athos trusts you, so you must be strong enough to control it."

Lyn smiled. "That's encouraging. Oh, but Louise, it's just Lyn, remember?"

Louise blushed. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

Ceniro pushed the blanket off and turned to sit on the edge of the bed next to Lyn. "Well, I'm feeling better from the bump Nergal gave us… Where exactly are we?"

"We're actually in a village not far from the Shrine," Erk said.

Ceniro reached for his pack and pulled out the farseer. "Yes, I see. I didn't know anyone still lived so close."

"I don't think they know what it is," Louise said in a low voice. "After what I've heard of Bern's policy in the area, I doubt they'd be let to live if they knew. I hope they will be safe after we leave. But… with you and Eliwood in such bad shape, we had no choice…"

"Shall we check on Eliwood?" Ceniro asked Lyn.

"Yes, that's a good idea." She stood and gestured for him to follow her.

"I'll see you later," Ceniro said to Erk and Louise, and they nodded to him.

Eliwood's face was deathly pale against the white of his pillow. But even as Ceniro entered the room, he stirred, his blue eyes flickering open. They came to rest on Hector, sitting beside him. "W-where…"

"Some village," Hector said. He, too, looked beat up. "You've been knocked out for a bit by Nergal's parting gift. You and most of us standing close by." He looked up at Lyn and Ceniro. "Good to see you two up. Is Nils up yet?"

"I don't know," Lyn said. "I'll check quickly."

Eliwood was trying to sit up. Hector helped him. "His power… it's so much more than before," he croaked.

"Yeah, if Athos hadn't put up a barrier when he did, we'd have been goners for sure," Hector answered.

Athos and Pent had been speaking quietly at the foot of his bed, and now Athos turned to him. "If Nergal truly wished to kill you, not even my power could have saved you."

Hector snorted bitterly. "What, was he feeling generous today or something?"

"Ninian…" Eliwood murmured.

Lyn entered again. "He's still sleeping. Lucius and Priscilla are with him."

"That's good," Eliwood said.

Athos came around the bed closer to Eliwood. "If you truly wish to save the girl, you must find at least one of the Legendary Weapons. Even as you are, you can't defeat him with strength of heart alone."

"I understand," Eliwood said after a moment. "Where do we find them?"

"Westward," Athos said. "However, I understand that first you must get away from this shrine."

"We can do that heading west," Ceniro said. "As long as we're more than a day's travel away by tomorrow's end. I think I know a good destination from here."

"You can lead us, then," Hector said. "Hey, you need a power-up of some kind if you're going to lead us."

"No, I don't," Ceniro said. "I don't need to lead, I just need to tell you where to go."

"Besides, he has his enormous brain," Lyn said, wrapping an arm around his neck.

Eliwood smiled slowly.

"You, in fact, will be coming with me," Athos said to Hector.

"What? Why?" Hector barked in surprise. "Am I in trouble?"

"Yes," Lyn said.

"Shush, woman," Hector told her.

"You are not in trouble," Athos said calmly. "But I will send the rest of your group in search of a sword, for either Eliwood or Lyndis, and take you in search of something suitable for you – the axe Armads, once wielded by the berserker Durban. It rests in the Western Isles. Have no fear, you will be reunited with your friends before anything… interesting happens, if all goes well."

"And if not, the two of you will be enough to take care of things, right?" Hector said to Eliwood and Lyn.

"We'll do our best," Eliwood said. "Is there not time to gather a third weapon? I could use a lance, probably, and Lyndis is good with a bow, once we figure out which one of us will use the sword."

"After Hector gains Armads, I will return him to you and then attempt to gather some more useful items," Athos said. "I do not think there is time to gain a third Legendary Weapon, but I think I can find a second sword."

Lyn smiled. "That sounds fine. You can have the Legendary sword, Eliwood. As long as I can lift it, I'll stab Nergal's black heart with my own sword."

Eliwood sat up straighter. "It's settled, then. We shall set out once Nils is well enough to travel, and head west following Ceniro's directions."

.

The weather was wet again the next day, but they plodded on with all the speed they could make. Hector seemed bothered by something, but when Ceniro asked, he shrugged it off. When Ceniro asked Matthew about it, he received the not-quite-unexpected answer a couple hours later that "Lord Hector is concerned about his brother". Eliwood and Lyn seemed to not have noticed, so Ceniro kept it to himself. If Hector really was worried about his brother, he was probably hiding it from them for a reason, and Ceniro would do the same. Even now he was starting to feel guilty that he knew.

After breakfast the day after, Hector came to him. "So we're heading out in a few minutes."

"So soon?" Ceniro asked in surprise. "I thought you'd come back to Lycia with us."

"Well, apparently not, I guess. Hey, take care of the others for me, okay? Especially Eliwood. He tends to take things on himself and not tell anyone about them."

Ceniro nodded slowly. "Yes, I will do that."

"Right, then. I'll see you in a couple days, it seems."

"Hector… wait!" Ceniro jogged after the taller man until he turned around again. "I… take this." He reached out and gave Hector the farseer.

Hector's eyes went wide. "What? You're really letting me borrow that?"

"Yeah. I can manage without it. And if you're going alone, I… I figure you can use every edge you can get."

"Seriously. Thanks. I'll make it up to you sometime."

"You don't have to do that," Ceniro said awkwardly. "Just come back in one piece. Have you said goodbye to the others yet?"

Hector slipped the farseer safely into his belt bag. "Just about to. Thanks. This will be an enormous help. …Though it might take me a bit to figure out."

"I'm sure you can handle it," Ceniro said, smiling. "I doubt its influence will reach from the Western Isles to here, so you won't be distracted by us through it. You'll be fine."

Hector mock-saluted him and headed off in Lyn's direction.

He and Athos left quietly a few minutes later. The main group continued marching towards Ostia, as Athos had told them to head to a particular region near the edge of Ostia, up against the mountains on the Lycian-Etrurian border. It would take them several days to get there.

Nils was quiet, and Lyn fretted quietly over him from next to Ceniro. "I don't know whether to make sure he's up here at the front with us, or if he'd be better off staying with the other children his own age, or if he is tired of me trying to look after him…"

"I think he appreciates it," Ceniro said. "We can all keep our spirits up together. He probably feels the worst of all of us right now – he's closest to Ninian, and there's not much he can do to help her, not even as much as Eliwood."

"Mm," was her answer. "I know a little how that feels. But we'll save her. We have to reassure ourselves and him of that."

"Exactly," Eliwood said, from behind them, and Ceniro jumped. "Oh, my apologies. I thought you knew I was there."

"It's all right," Ceniro said. "You're doing all right, right?"

Eliwood looked at the sky. "Well… I suppose as well as can be expected. I feel like we're going too slow, but there's only so fast I can make my own body move, let alone everyone else. I should ride more."

"You are good at riding, Eliwood?" Lyn asked.

"I'm actually very good," Eliwood said. "Perhaps once we pass into Lycia I shall request my horse from Pherae. I'd rather not ride a borrowed horse into battle."

"Oh, you can fight from horseback too?" Ceniro asked. "How did I not know that?"

"It hasn't come up," Eliwood said. "But you knew Marcus is my teacher."

"But you fight using the fencing style, with a rapier," Lyn said. "How does that translate into mounted combat?"

"I see your point," Eliwood conceded. "Not at all, actually."

"I'm not bad on a horse myself," Lyn said. "But I prefer to fight with a sword on foot. I'll ride like the wind when not in battle, but for defeating bandits I prefer to use my own agility."

"Understandable," Eliwood said. "I believe you, too. They say Sacaeans are the best horsemen in Elibe, descended from Hanon the horse archeress, although… the young man named Guy doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it…"

"Well, not everyone's the same," Lyn chided gently. "Not all Lycians live in stone houses, right?"

"Hey," Ceniro said mildly.

"Hello," Lyn said, smiling cheekily at him.

"I understand your point," Eliwood said. "And I know we're going as quick as we can without being too tired for emergencies. I'm just…"

"I know," she said, and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll save her. And stop Nergal. We have to believe."

"I believe," Eliwood said fervently.

"Greetings!" came from behind them, and they turned to see Kent and Sain, with Nils riding with Kent. The hail had come from Sain, who was waving enthusiastically.

"Hello, boys," Lyn said. "What news do you bring?"

"No news," Kent said. "Only Nils."

"Thank you, Sir Kent," Nils said, and jumped down to walk with Eliwood.

"Are you feeling better now?" Ceniro asked.

"Mm," Nils nodded. "Much better. I was having trouble finding you, though, so I asked your knights. Was that okay?"

Lyn glanced at Ceniro and they both relaxed a little. "It's more than okay," Lyn said.

"In fact, we were going to go look for you about now," Ceniro said.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Nils asked. "Can you show me? I want to know."

Lyn and Eliwood looked at Ceniro.

"Unfortunately, I lent my farseer to Hector for the time being," Ceniro said, and the two lords seemed unsurprised. Kent and Sain, however, looked startled. "But if I remember right, heading northwest will bring us through the mountain foothills straight into Kathelet, probably by evening if we're not delayed. From there it'll be a few days to Ostia."

"Too bad you'll never make it!" said a raucous voice, and a bandit swung down from a tree in front of them.

Lyn, Eliwood, Kent, and Sain instantly drew their swords, looking warily around as more bandits began to appear through the undergrowth around them. Only Ceniro stood still, looking completely calm. "Stay with me, Nils," he said in a low voice, and the boy nodded and shifted closer to him, although still poised for flight.

"Looks like we caught a nice noble outing," one of the bandits said, drawing closer. "Two rich kids and their babysitters and servants."

Kent looked offended. "Is that all you think we are?"

Sain laughed. "With how strong Lady Lyndis is now, we could probably just let her take care of it by herself." The two knights glanced at each other in amused agreement.

Lyn growled. "You brigands be warned, I hate your kind."

"The kitten thinks she has teeth, huh? Don't worry, we won't kill you…"

"I don't think anyone here is really all that worried," Eliwood said. "There are indeed many of you, but I think we might be more than a match for you…"

"You kids think you're better than us, with your pretty little unmarred faces? Obviously you have no experience!"

"Or mayyyybe," Sain said, leaning forward and tapping his headband, "we have some awesome healers with our group, and they keep us pretty. It's you guys who have no skill, letting people stab you in the face like that!"

"It's unwise to judge a person's experience by their appearance," Kent said sternly. "We've been on a long journey, getting stronger in mind and body every day. Prepare yourselves!"

"No more talk!" the lead bandit shouted. "It's you who should prepare yourselves!"

Ceniro took a step forward. "Excuse me…"

"Nothing you say can save you now!"

Ceniro took a deep breath… and whistled.

Fiora and her pegasus dropped neatly through a gap in the trees, the stern look on her face identical to Kent's. "You called, sir?" She was followed closely by her sisters.

"More women…" said one of the bandits, and Ceniro could almost see imaginary gold coins floating in the man's eyes. Then Heath and Vaida followed them with a massive thud and a growling of wyverns, and the man snapped back to reality with a frightened jump.

"Enough!" Lyn snapped, her sword making an angry flick. "Look around you. You are surrounded. I will grant you mercy should you choose to flee now."

With some crashing and some cursing and some squeaking, the rest of the army slowly filtered into view, all more or less ready for battle, though also more or less adorned with bits of forest undergrowth.

Sain didn't lower his sword, but his smile turned rueful. "Does that mean I'm not going to get to show off today?"

"You don't need to show off, your wife is in Pherae," Kent said.

Sain's smile grew. "While you, on the other hand…"

Kent and Fiora's eyes met, and they both blushed and looked away quickly.

The bandit leader looked worried. "Uh. Please forgive us! We didn't know…"

"Didn't know what?" Lyn growled. "That we were a large, heavily armed group? I should take you out anyway for the sake of future travelers…"

"Don't, Lyndis," Eliwood said. "It would be a massacre."

"Eliwood, bandits don't care about things like that."

The bandit leader fell to his knees. "No, please, don't kill us! We'll do something else. We're sorry!"

Lyn turned away and sheathed her sword with a sharp click. "Hah. I'll believe it when I see it. Be off, then."

They all turned and ran south, towards the mountains.

"Well, that was exciting," Fiora said. "May I be of any other service?"

"No, I think we're good," Eliwood said. "Thank you for your quick arrival."

Fiora bowed from the waist. "It was our pleasure." Ceniro waved to the rest of the army, which began to disperse again into their traveling formation.

Farina snorted. "It's what you're paying me for! I'd hate to let you down after that!"

Kent smiled. "In any case, Lady Fiora…" he trailed off.

"In any case," Sain put in loudly, looking pointedly in a completely different direction, "it's a good thing no one got hurt, and maybe someone should just check and make sure that everyone really isn't hurt? Should I do that? Maybe I should do that. Come on, Lady Farina, Florina, let's go make sure everyone is without scratches from these nasty trees."

Fiora began to blush again, as Farina snickered, Florina giggled, and both of them turned their pegasi to follow the gaily chattering Sain.

Lyn smiled at Nils. "What wonderful friends we have, huh?"

Eliwood looked at Ceniro as Kent and Fiora moved out in front of them, horse and pegasus keeping pace with each other. "Wait, is that a thing?"

Ceniro chuckled. "I think most of their friends have been trying to get them together since Fiora joined our army – and I'll freely admit I'm one of those people."

"They do seem very similar, at least," Nils said. "Is that a good thing?" He seemed doubtful.

"They're perfect," Lyn sighed, clasping her hands. "I'm so happy for them. On this difficult journey, there are so many of us here who have found people to care for…"

"Mm," Eliwood agreed. "But I'm glad there's so many of us that we can pass these places unthreatened by normal attacks."

"We're not invulnerable, but any normal attack would be clear suicide," Ceniro agreed. "Eliwood, once we get into Kathelet, let's get transport for our people on foot. It will help a lot, probably two or three days worth."

"I was thinking the same thing," Eliwood said. "The first place we come to, we'll buy a couple carts and horses."

Ceniro blinked, then reminded himself that Eliwood was rich.

"And I'll send home for my horse, and have it meet us at Ostia. It'll take some time for him to make the journey, but like I said, I'd rather ride my own horse than someone else's."

"What colour is your horse?" Nils asked.

Eliwood smiled. "He's white. His name is Oren. The first thing I'll do is take you for a ride, okay? I mean, you can and maybe have ridden with everyone here. But… you and me, we'll go for a ride."

"I would like that," Nils said.

.

They camped on the western side of the river that marked the boundary between Kathelet and the wilderness, and darkness fell around them as they made plans for the next day.

"Hey," said a voice, and Hector stepped into the firelight.

Eliwood and Lyn jumped up, and Ceniro followed suit, for Hector looked terrible. His armour and clothes were covered in blood and strange, orange dirt, and he had clearly taken many wounds – probably healed by Athos, Ceniro guessed, as none of them were currently bleeding. He swayed on his feet, clearly past the edge of exhaustion. But his eyes glittered, he was smiling – smirking, even – and in his hand he carried an axe with a curved edge which was twice as large as his usual Wolf Beil that hung from his belt.

"Hector!" Lyn cried. "You… What happened to you?"

"I won," Hector said, collapsing on a seat with a clatter of armour and a sigh. The giant axe he laid down gently beside him. Ceniro looked around for any of the other Ostians, and saw Matthew flickering away. "It was a challenge, a test of my strength and will. This baby was guarded by the spirits of soldiers who fought in the Scouring. And at the end of it, Durban himself wanted to know who the hell I was and what I was going to do with his axe. I think I convinced him I was good enough to wield it." A shadow of something else, something apprehensive, flickered across his face, less guarded than usual in his weariness.

"What?" Eliwood asked. "What is it, Hector?"

Hector waved it away. "Nothing we didn't already know." He laughed at some joke that only he understood, and the other three smiled, reassured.

Oswin, Serra, and Matthew were hurrying up. "Young master! You have returned!"

"My lord," Oswin said, kneeling. "May I congratulate you on your safe return."

"You look terrible!" Serra cried. "You need to rest right now!"

"In a minute, I'm still catching up," Hector said, waving her off. "But thanks, guys. Good to know I was missed."

"Some missed you more than others," Matthew said, with a sly glance at Serra.

Serra actually blushed, and snorted. "I don't know why I bother."

"Well," Matthew said, considering, "perhaps she didn't miss you quite as much as she was occupied an awful lot with pestering a certain young bookish friend of ours…"

"That really narrows it down," Lyn said, joking along with him, but Serra's blush was increasing.

"Matthew, I swear, if you don't stop talking about it I will actually attempt to break your ear-drums."

"Been there, done that, I'm out," Matthew said, grinning and holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'll give you my daily report tomorrow, young master. You rest now." He vanished back into the darkness outside the firelight.

Oswin had stood calmly through the preceding altercation, and now came forward. "There has been no news, Lord Hector – although, as you probably know, we are now within the borders of Kathelet. We shall reach our destination in four or five days, if we obtain some form of transport for the rest of our footsoldiers and the weather is good."

"And we don't get attacked, although I guess within Lycia that's not gonna happen," Hector said. "Hey, is there anything to eat? Now that I've had a chance to sit down, I'm famished."

"I'll get you something," Eliwood said, and was back in a moment. Hector began stuffing his face with even more enthusiasm than usual.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "We actually were attacked this afternoon. They ran away when they saw how many we were."

Hector snorted a laugh. "That doesn't surprise me. Did they truly run away from our numbers, or from your righteous fury?"

"As I understand it, both," Oswin said, and Lyn sighed in exasperation. "I mean no disrespect, Lady Lyndis."

"I know, it's not because of that," she said, and smiled disarmingly at the knight.

"That's great, Oswin," Hector said, finishing his food already. He yawned and stretched, his armour clinking and leather creaking. "I'm done for the day. Is there somewhere I can sleep; a log or a plank or something?"

"Your tent is set up, my lord," Oswin said, gesturing.

Hector stood and nodded to the others. "I'll see you tomorrow, you three." He turned away, then paused. "Oh, yeah, Ceniro," he called. "Don't let me forget this." He tossed the farseer at the tactician, who managed to catch it with a minimum of fuss for once. "It was pretty great."

"I'm glad it was of help," Ceniro said. "Sleep well."

Hector waved and left.

.

Four days later, they stood at the entrance to a cave in the north of Ostia. Or at least the army was camped at the entrance to a cave in the north of Ostia.

Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, Marcus, Athos, and Ceniro had ventured deep into the cave, led by Athos. At first it had been cold, but now with every turn of the passage it grew hotter and hotter.

At length, they stepped through an opening into a wide cavern. The heat was stifling. Hector and Marcus lowered the torches they held; there was no need for them anymore. Ahead, there were the remains of strange ruined walls, massive, man-made but ancient and partly crumbled. From the edges of the cavern and from below the floor of the main chamber, pools of lava lit and heated the room.

"I never knew there was a place like this in Lycia," Eliwood said, staring. A bead of sweat rolled down and dripped off his nose; he ignored it.

"It even hurts to breathe, it's so hot," Lyn gasped, fanning herself to no avail.

Hector yelped. "Look there! Is that a jet of flames?"

"We'll have to watch our step," Eliwood said. "Or rather… I will have to watch my step, won't I?" He turned to Athos expectantly.

Athos nodded. "Long ago, when Lycia was a single country, an altar was built here in secret. What lies here requires protection from evil hearts."

"And evil hearts generally aren't brave or desperate enough to head into the heart of a volcano, is that it?" Lyn asked.

"The weapons we wielded contained great strength. Power fearsome enough to cut down dragons…"

"Hopefully we don't have to actually face dragons," Eliwood said. "If dragons come, we'll be too late, whether we have weapons or not."

"Today, the might in those remaining weapons is not what it once was," Athos said. "Yet they have been safeguarded to keep them from evil hands. This place… No one's stepped foot in here since Roland's death. Roland's presence still fills the air. All that reside here now are former soldiers who guard the sword. This is your trial, Eliwood. A few of you may enter, but only you can approach the altar. Go and prove that you have the strength to wield Durandal!"

Hector grimaced. "This is even less inviting than my trial. Good luck, Eliwood. You'll need it."

Eliwood smiled. "Thanks. I'll take it."

Ceniro cleared his throat nervously. "Am… am I allowed to help him with the farseer?"

Athos nodded. "Certainly. But we shall wait here."

"We're rooting for you, Eliwood!" Lyn said, and gave him a little punch on the arm. He laughed and took it.

"Go kick some butt," Hector said. "Don't mind us, we'll just be glued to Ceniro's shoulders for the next few hours."

Marcus stepped forward to lay his hand on Eliwood's shoulder. "I believe you are ready for this. You are brave and strong, quick and true-hearted. Your sword never misses its mark. Your father would be proud of what you are about to accomplish."

Eliwood smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you, Marcus. That means much to me." He stepped towards the clear entrance to the maze, for such the farseer was showing Ceniro. "Don't worry, I won't be long."

"We'll be here," Hector said.

"Oh for goodness' sake, we can talk to him through Ceniro's farseer. Don't act like he's leaving on a distant journey," Lyn said.

"Like me?" Hector teased.

"Ugh, whatever." Lyn draped herself against Ceniro, already watching the farseer avidly. "Spirits of Roland's soldiers, huh? I wonder if they'll attack us, too."

"We should be beyond their guarded grounds," Athos said placidly, sitting down to wait.

The next few hours were more exciting than they had any right to be for people not actively engaged in combat. Ceniro had put the farseer on the ground, and the four of them clustered around it intently, watching as Eliwood's miniature figure made its way slowly through the maze.

The spirits of the dead soldiers were difficult opponents, but fortunately they didn't attack Eliwood more than two at a time, giving Ceniro space to offer the occasional word of advice on when to counter-attack, when to hold his ground, and when to retreat to a better position. Not only the soldiers threatened the young lord, but in some places the lava would come spurting through the floor. More than once Eliwood had to sprint for safety, or cover, or jump back to save his boots.

"Geez," Hector said. "There were poisonous fumes in my trial, but lava is something else entirely. Durandal must be even better than Armads."

"There is no 'better'," Athos said serenely. "Armads has an affinity for thunder, and Durandal has an affinity for fire, if that influences your understanding of the trials."

"Not really," Hector said. "But I'm glad to know it."

Mostly all they could hear was Eliwood's breathing, and the occasional shout as he attacked or ran. The guardians he fought were all completely silent.

At last, Eliwood reached the end of the maze. The farseer was not good at showing detail at its small scale, but Ceniro guessed that there was a dais, and an altar. There was certainly a very large spirit with a very large axe there.

This spirit spoke to Eliwood. "I am Georg, one of Sir Roland's warriors… You trespass here… I shall cut you down…"

Eliwood made no answer; had no time to make an answer, all he could do was duck and roll as Georg's axe sailed through the space where he had just been standing. The little group watching was completely silent, though Ceniro noted that there were four pairs of clenched fists on knees around the farseer.

Eliwood moved like Ceniro had never seen him move before. The Heaven's Seal must have been helping him more than the tactician could have guessed. He had noticed it in the fight to get to the altar, but now against this man, Eliwood's new strength and speed was incredible to behold – even by proxy.

Eliwood was making full use of the space given to him, but he didn't seem to be making much headway against the giant he fought.

"Ceniro," he gasped. "My rapier… it's not strong enough. Not… not long enough…"

"What do you mean?" Ceniro asked, deliberately keeping his voice as calm as he could.

"Can't get close enough… to his weak spots. Too big… too much reach. The axe…" He broke off as he ducked from behind cover just as the giant axe crashed through the stone he had been standing behind.

"You're doing fine," Ceniro said, and glanced at Marcus. The older man was sweating bullets. Ceniro gave him a reassuring smile, and the general nodded.

"Lord Eliwood," Marcus said, "I don't know if I can help you formulate a plan from here… but you will either have to get behind him, disarm him, or be faster than he is."

Eliwood didn't speak for a few moments. Then he gave a short laugh. "Tall orders all three."

"I believe in you, Lord Eliwood," Marcus said earnestly. "Remember we believe in you. We _all_ believe in you."

"…Ninian," Eliwood might have said softly.

Whatever the case, there was no question that Eliwood's next attack rivaled even Lyn's for speed and precision. The rapier stabbed into Georg's gloved hand, and the massive axe crashed to the ground. But Eliwood was already turning, spinning, lining up his rapier for a nigh-impossible stab to Georg's chest. Georg's blow with his left fist went over Eliwood's head, and the rapier pierced his body.

The spirit instantly evaporated into dust and vapour, blowing away in the hot wind of the cave.

"Who are you?" it said. "You and Sir Roland are as one…"

Hector fell flat on his back. "I'm done. I didn't even fight today and I'm done."

Lyn laughed and poked him. "You say that, but given a few Black Fang or morphs, you'll be chomping at the bit again."

"Well done, Eliwood," Ceniro said earnestly. Marcus couldn't even speak for emotion.

Athos rose finally and disappeared, teleporting to Eliwood's side.

Eliwood was bent over panting, his hands on his knees, his rapier fallen abandoned to the cave floor.

"Well done," Athos said gently, and the young lord straightened.

"Thank you, sir. Did… Did I…?"

"You did," Athos said. "And now… for a reunion of sorts. Stand there. I must greet my old friend, the little knight, Sir Roland." Eliwood remained in place as Athos approached the altar. "Roland… Roland, awaken."

There was a brief flash of white light, which Ceniro could see over the walls from the other side of the cavern. Eliwood had raised his arm to shield his eyes, but now he lowered it and stared.

Standing in front of the altar was a rather short ghostly man with a messy mop of blue hair and blue eyes. "Athos, my wise old friend."

"Roland, it is good to see you."

"Much time has passed, hasn't it," Roland said, looking past Athos and Eliwood to the crumbling stone walls. "For me, fighting the dragons was only a few decades ago. Remember that time? It was dark and full of fear, but we had good friends, too."

"It was, it was," Athos said. "But you are right. It has been nearly a thousand years since the dragons left this world. And yet… the world is threatened by one who craves the might of dragons once again."

Roland's eyes sharpened and his back straightened. He looked ready to act. "How can such a one…?"

"It is a long story. I myself will tell it to you when I come to join you. But Roland. Look upon this boy." He gestured to Eliwood, who stepped forward and bowed low. "He is of your descendants, and he seeks your aid to stop the evil one. Please, lend him your aid."

Roland frowned in concern. "I… no longer have flesh and blood within this world… I cannot see what help I… Ah, but I know! Of course, it's what you came to ask in the first place." His eyes twinkled as he smiled. He turned to the altar. "Take this. Its power has weakened somewhat over the ages, but with my power added to it, it shall be as keen as ever it was."

"If you give your soul's strength to it, you shall pass forever from the reach of this world," Athos cautioned him.

Roland nodded, his eyes lit by a fire that had sometimes appeared in Eliwood's eyes. "And yet my heart will be glad. If I might help my children, there is nothing else I need do." He stepped forward to look Athos in the face, though indeed he was much shorter than the old Archsage. "Besides… the dead should be beyond the reach of this world anyway. This arrangement was only temporary at best, a just-in-case, though it has been a thousand years. I have given my all to this world, and now I am fortunate enough to give a little more, that's all. Hardly anyone else receives such a chance."

"You haven't changed in the slightest, Roland," Athos said.

Roland's eyes twinkled again. "…I only ask that you see this through, my friend…"

"I will," Athos promised him solemnly.

Roland turned his eyes to Eliwood. "You are a fine man. I am glad there are still people like you in the world. I shall be honoured to give my last gift to you."

"And I am honoured to accept and wield it," Eliwood answered.

"Ugh," Hector said from where he lay on the cave floor. "They are like each other."

"And was Durban like you?" Lyn asked, a bit nettled at Hector's derision.

"Oh yeah. He was like 'I need to fight stuff, I'm bored', and I was like 'hey you, I need your strength' and he was like 'deal'…"

"Shut up," Lyn hissed.

Roland disappeared with another flash of light, and Ceniro clearly heard Eliwood's intake of breath. "This sword…"

"That is Durandal, the Blazing Sword," Athos said. "Take it; it is yours."

Eliwood reverently stretched out his hand and took up the sword. It was long and broad, with a blade four feet long, and the base of the blade was as broad as a handspan.

"The Blazing Sword," Eliwood said. He lifted it. Though it took him both hands, he seemed to have no trouble manoeuvring it deftly through the air.

It came with a sheath, almost a harness, that let him carry it at the waist. Eliwood took the sheath, still carrying the sword in his hands, and Athos teleported them both back to his friends.

When he stepped into direct line of sight from the maze entrance, Ceniro and Lyn started. Like Hector a few days before, he looked awful. Perhaps not as badly wounded as Hector, but it was one thing to hear him get injured on the farseer and another to see the results in person. But Athos had already healed his cuts and burns.

He walked steadily towards them, smiling, the sword under one arm and his tattered cloak balled up under the other. He was drenched in sweat; his hair stuck limply to his forehead and even his outer tunic was soaked.

Hector, of course, didn't react. "Good work, Eli. So that's the legendary blade, huh?"

Eliwood's smile grew broader, prouder. "It is. I… don't know what else to say."

Marcus bowed. "It is the greatest of honours to stand in your presence and that of the Blazing Sword, Lord Eliwood. Your father would be beside himself with joy, as I am sure your mother will be as well."

Lyn peered at the hilt. "It's very strange… Of course I've never seen it before, but it feels… familiar, somehow."

Eliwood blinked. "Now that you say it… it does, doesn't it?" He grinned. "Perhaps it's our ancestor inside."

"Perhaps," Lyn said.

"Ugh, you're both weirdos," Hector said. "But mostly you." He nodded to Lyn, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Come," Eliwood said. "We must head to Badon with all speed. Ninian is waiting, and I'm sure Nergal hasn't been idle as we march, either."

"And let's get out of these heat," Lyn agreed. "It's nice after the cold winds of the mountains, but only for a few minutes."

"Speak for yourself," Hector said. "We haven't even been doing anything."

"That's what I said to you!" she said.

Ceniro laughed. "You're both right, and I'm glad to be with you."

"Oh, no, he's going to start being sappy," Hector groaned. "Let's go before he says anything worse."

The others chuckled as they followed him from the cave.

.

The mountain wind was biting as they exited the cave mouth. Twilight was falling. Lyn immediately shivered, and Eliwood offered her his cloak. She accepted it gratefully. Hector snarked, but she ignored it.

"All right," Eliwood said. "Marcus, get the army ready to travel. Tents, campfires, everything ready to go within ten minutes."

"As you say, my lord," Marcus said, saluting. "Ah! Lord Eliwood-"

Eliwood glanced down to where Marcus was pointing, and saw Durandal was glowing. "Lord Athos… what does this mean?"

"Something is coming," Athos said. "Be ready for anything!"

Eliwood opened his mouth to respond, and his hand tensed around the sword, but anything he had been going to say was drowned out by a chilling screech that filled the entire valley. Ceniro dropped to his knees, his hands over his ears. Hector was staring transfixed at the sky.

"Dragon-!"

"It can't be!" Lyn cried. "Not already!"

A long, lithe, pale green serpentine form was approaching rapidly.

"We're too late!?" Ceniro said. "This can't…"

The dragon caught sight of them, up on the mountainside, and turned towards them with another shriek. In the valley below, most of the members of their army were screaming and running to and fro. Ceniro knew he should say something to them, but he didn't know what to say… To go? To stay? To hide? To fight?

Eliwood's face was white, but he grasped Durandal and drew it, the blade blazing with white light. "Stay back, everyone!"

Hector reached for him as he leapt forward, but he was too slow – Eliwood was faster than ever before, and the bright sword seemed to pull him onward, insanely fast. The blade left a track of light through the air as it slashed. The dragon shrieked again and fell from the air, crashing into the mountainside just below them. Lyn flinched and grabbed Hector, which was hindered somewhat by the fact that Ceniro was grabbing her for the same reason.

Eliwood landed in a crouch not far away, the light in the sword dimming. He stood and turned to face them, his face still white in shock, but he was beginning to breath normally again.

"Eliwood," Hector said uncertainly. "Are you all right?"

Eliwood wiped his brow with a sleeve. "I think so… My body… My body moved on its own, as if the sword was guiding me. I don't think I could have…" He looked very shaky as he climbed back up to them. "Lord Athos, if Nergal has released the dragons, we will need a new plan, won't we? What should we do?" He started and looked more closely. "Lord Athos? What's wrong?"

Athos was silent for a long moment, staring at the great body of the dragon. "Well…"

"Let me be the one to answer that," said the most unwelcome voice the little group knew of, and Nergal appeared on the other side of the dragon.

Eliwood's face contorted in rage. "Blackheart! You!"

"Ninian proved useless," Nergal said casually. "I've come for a replacement." He waved his hand, and Nils appeared beside him, eyes blank and half-lidded.

"Nils!" Eliwood cried.

"Don't waste your breath," Nergal chided him. "He won't be awake for some time. Nils will do for me what Ninian would not."

"What have you done with Ninian!?" Eliwood shouted.

Nergal slowly smiled and chuckled. "It's not what I've done. It's what you've done, Eliwood."

Ceniro felt a sudden lump of ice form in his gut, and to see the faces of the others, the same had happened to them. "…What?" Eliwood breathed.

"Eliwood, did you never once question it? Why the siblings were needed to open the Dragon's Gate? Why did it have to be Ninian and Nils?" The group on the hill was silent. "The answer is simple. The Dragon's Gate cannot be opened by humans. Why would humans be able to open a gate that was designed… for dragons?"

"…What?" Eliwood repeated numbly. The rage had gone from his face, replaced only by horrified fear.

"It's pitiful, really. Poor Ninian's plight. Coaxed by my honeyed words, she and her brother passed through the gate… Though unable to return home, they refused to aid me and wandered lost and alone, until… she was slain by the hand of the one she loved."

"What… what are you saying?" Eliwood's voice was very faint.

"Can you not guess? Or is it that you are afraid to know?" Nergal's expression was dark, contemptuous. "Very well. Let me tell you, Eliwood. The ice dragon there… The beast slaughtered by your hand…" His words fell hard and merciless. "That is Ninian. The girl you loved. The girl you swore to protect. She returned to her true form and lost all human memory. Yet you, above all else, remained in her heart, and she came here… Look upon the creature you have slain. That is Ninian."

Eliwood made only a choking noise.

Nergal gestured to the dragon, which had begun to flicker. "Go on, look. She's using the last of her strength to take human form for one last time. I believe there may still be time enough to say farewell. You know, of course, that you cannot save her."

When Eliwood's head came up again, there was something dark and ugly there. Tears and hate glittered in his eyes, and his words ground painfully from his throat. "Nergal! You…"

Nergal shrugged. "It's not me, Eliwood. It's you. You killed her."

"I-" Eliwood shook, then let out a horrible scream, tears streaming freely down his face. Only Hector's now-in-time grab stopped him from launching suicidally at Nergal.

"Eliwood! Get a hold of yourself!" his friend said. "You'll only get yourself killed!"

The dragon shuddered again and melted, and there was only Ninian, looking small and fragile in its place. Blood was seeping through her clothes in a diagonal line from left shoulder to right hip. Eliwood's slash had been accurate and lethal. Only the Holy Maiden Staff would be able to help her, and it was far away in Etruria.

All the more shocking when she opened her eyes, eyes that unsettlingly mirrored the colour of her blood, and tried to speak. "L… Lord Eli…wood…"

Hector let go of Eliwood and he rushed to her side. "Ninian!"

He gathered her in his arms and she gasped a little from the movement. "…Ninian? …Ninian!"

To their shock, she was smiling a little. "Eliwood…"

"Ninian! Please… please don't die!" The tears were beginning to pour down again. "I… What have I done!?"

Her eyes flickered open again and looked up at him. "You… saved them, Lord Eliwood… from me… I'm glad…"

"What?"

"I'm glad… that… you are unharmed…" Her eyes closed again.

"Ninian, I… I…"

"It's all right… Eliwood… It's… truly… all right. Please… protect…" Her breath fluttered out and stopped.

"…Ninian…" Eliwood sobbed. "Ninian? You can't… Answer me… …There's so much I haven't told you… You… can't… Why…?"

He let his face fall upwards and screamed her name.

For a long minute, everyone and everything was silent except for the sound of Eliwood's body-wracking sobs. Everyone was quiet down in the valley. Even the wind seemed stilled.

"Farewell, Eliwood," Nergal said at last. "You will spend your last days trembling in the shadow of dragons."

He made as if to go, but Athos stepped forward. "I will not permit that!" The Archsage spread his arms, an ancient, shining tome in his hands, and a vast tornado of fire enveloped Nergal. Nils went flying, still blank-faced. Marcus hurried forward to catch the boy.

From the roaring depths of the fire, which churned up even the stones around him, they heard Nergal laugh low. "The purest fire… Forblaze, the Flame Breath. Very impressive, Archsage Athos. However… However, fire is no longer my foe! Look! Not even a legendary blade can cause me harm! At long last, I am impervious!" He laughed again, louder, triumphantly.

Athos let his arms fall to his sides, suddenly looking old and frail.

"Miserable, aren't you, Athos? Yet out of respect for the great man you used to be, I'll leave. After all, 500 years ago, we followed the same path, did we not, old friend?" Nergal wrapped his black cloak tighter around him and vanished. The valley fell silent again.

Hector was the first to break the silence. "What… what do we do now? It seems not even the Legendary Weapons will be of any use against him…"

In Marcus's arms, Nils stirred and groaned.

"Nils!?" Lyn turned and helped him stand, leaning on her. "You're awake! Are you okay?"

"Uhhh…?" Nils managed. "Ninian… where's Ninian? I heard…"

Lyn choked; Ceniro choked, Hector straightened, and Nils caught sight of Eliwood's bowed head and Ninian's blood-soaked body.

Eliwood turned his grimy, tear-streaked face to Nils, sniffling. "Nils… I'm… so sorry…"

Nils fell to his knees despite Lyn's arms and screamed.


	9. Chapter 9: Sands of Time

Chapter 9: Sands of Time

Author's note: The battle in this chapter was completed thanks to listening to You Will Know Our Names from Xenoblade Chronicles on repeat for several hours.

.

The army marched mechanically back to Castle Ostia over the next day. Though Lyn and Hector and, to some extent, Ceniro, tried to keep up a good face for everyone's sake, the news of Ninian's death had passed quickly through the army. Many of them were downcast, some even despairing, though they tried to stay strong for each other like the good people they were.

They had buried Ninian just inside the cave, laying her down on the remains of Eliwood's cloak and covering her with stones.

Eliwood moved as if in a dream, barely responding to anyone except Hector and Marcus. He didn't eat all day. Nils was even worse off, curled in a corner of Merlinus's cart, staring blankly at nothing. Though Ceniro heard some people wondering if he could turn into a dragon as well, Florina, who had also become close to Ninian, rode escort for the cart, and no one bothered him.

The great walls of the fortress city of Ostia appeared before them in the late afternoon. Ceniro was glad to see them; they were familiar to him, though he hadn't seen them since his late teens.

Hector remembered as they were approaching the main gate. The group had to make their way through increasingly heavy traffic, but most people were aware enough to make way for the lords and ladies and their assorted knightly and mercenary retinue. "Hey, you're not completely clueless about this place, eh?"

"Yes," Ceniro said. "I know my way around well enough, at least the main roads. I lived in residence at the university for the first year, and then at Lord Garlant's estate."

"In town or out of town?"

"Both, depending on the season," Ceniro said. "I wonder if I'll see anyone I know."

"Probably," Hector said. "We do tend to hire graduates of the Academy, you know."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Ceniro said. "Though… I'd prefer not to see most of them, you know…"

Hector looked back at him and frowned. "I don't know. Why not?"

"Eh… a lot of them didn't like me."

"Why not? Because you're a shimpy little guy who doesn't look like he should be anywhere near combat?" Hector smiled a little to let him know he was only teasing.

Lyn punched his arm. "Hey, there are plenty of people like that in this army. I weigh a lot less than he does."

"Yeah, but you have speed," Hector said. "And your sword's very strong. Give Ceniro a sword, and he couldn't slice a steak if you gave him a fork too."

Ceniro coughed. "Actually, it was because I was a weird little rude peasant boy… and because I was better than most of them could ever hope to be, even if they weren't coasting on their titles and wealth."

Hector laughed out loud. "I think you might be my favourite."

Ceniro looked confused. "Favourite what?"

"Favourite weird little rude peasant boy. You speak truth. You remember Erik, from Laus? You aptly described him and most of the rest of my class. I never saw you, though. Why not?"

"I'm at least a year younger than you…"

"But I heard you were ahead of your class?"

"And how much did you really meet with Lord Garlant, anyway?"

Hector crossed his arms. "That's true, I always thought he was pretty boring."

"I knew of you, but I never really saw you, either… not that I was interested at that point…"

"Just thought I was another dumb-ass lordling, huh?" Hector nodded ruefully. "I kind of was, too. It's good that we met under other circumstances."

"What do you mean, 'was'?" Lyn asked, and Hector scowled. "And besides, Ostia is a really big place. I've never seen a city so large…"

"You should see Aquleia," Ceniro said enthusiastically. "It's as large, if not larger, and very beautiful."

"And Ostia isn't," Hector conceded. "That's not its fault, though. With all the petty squabbling Lycian lords do, it needs to be this way."

"It's very grand, certainly," Lyn said. "I remember you said that Bern Castle was more unassailable, but… I wouldn't want to attack this place, either, even if Ceniro were guiding me."

"Thanks," Hector said.

"One moment," Ceniro said, and called the pegasus and wyvern riders. "You don't have to pass through the city with us. Go on ahead over top to the keep and let them know we're coming."

Fiora saluted. "At once, sir."

They passed under the main gate, making the slow ascent to the main keep.

"The first thing we should do is talk to my brother again," Hector said. "Partly to let him know the outcome of our trip, although… I don't like him worrying about things – me – that he can't control anyway…"

"And the other is so that he doesn't scold you like last time, right?" Lyn teased.

"…Maybe…"

By the time they arrived there, the Ostians had thrown out the welcome wagon. "Lord Hector!" cried the soldiers at the gate, and their call was taken up by others. The pegasi and wyverns were already being taken care of, though Heath hovered near his Hyperion – and Vaida certainly wasn't going anywhere without Umbriel.

One captain came to Hector and saluted. "Lord Hector! We're pleased to see you home alive and well!"

"Where's my brother?" Hector demanded.

"Ah… he's left for a conference in Etruria. He's scheduled to return in two week's time," the captain said. Ceniro wondered if the hesitation meant he'd forgotten such important information, or if perhaps Hector was right to worry about his brother.

"…Etruria? That's too bad," Hector said after a pause, and Ceniro wondered if Hector was thinking the same things as he was. "Anyway, go and prepare rooms for our companions. They need rest."

"Right away, my lord."

"Ceniro here will let you know about special arrangements."

"Oh, right, yes, I will," Ceniro said. Special arrangements were definitely needed for Eliwood and Nils. He'd get Nils settled himself… and make sure no one disturbed either of them. Soldiers and servants were passing by, apparently making things ready inside for their group. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"There is no inconvenience, sir," said the captain. "Castle Ostia has few visitors right now. Only tell me what your people need."

"Right, right." He did, but at the end felt he needed to apologize again. "I'm sorry, I don't know Castle Ostia very well…"

"That's because you're a brat from Santaruz," said a girl behind him, and Ceniro turned only to get slapped in the face.

Ceniro wobbled, completely taken off guard by the sudden attack. When he regained his balance, he looked up to see a young woman with long grey hair, shaking her hand as if she had stung it from hitting him so hard. "Good, now that's out of my system…" She smiled at him with pale green eyes as if nothing was wrong. "Hello, Ceniro. What are you doing here, and with Lord Hector of all people?"

"…Renee?" Ceniro mumbled, holding his cheek.

Lyn stepped defensively in front of him. "Who are you, and why in Father Sky's name did you hit him!?"

It was Renee's turn to look surprised. "Ceniro, who is this?"

"Ah, that's… Lady Lyn of Caelin," Ceniro said sheepishly, and saw everything click together for the young woman.

She pointed dramatically at him. "You! You did that! That thing!"

"Yes…?" Ceniro asked warily.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Lyn demanded, her posture no longer as hostile as it had been, but still alert and defensive.

"Sorry," Ceniro said. "Lyn, this is… an old classmate, Renee, one of the few who didn't hate me. Renee, this is… um…"

Lyn folded her arms. "Are you a former girlfriend of his or something?"

Renee twirled some hair around her finger, her own stance becoming guarded. "Well, no. It wasn't like that. But you still didn't have to stand me up for graduation, you jerk!"

"Renee, that was… like… three years ago!"

"Two years ago! Don't you understand what that's like? I was so humiliated…"

Suddenly, Ceniro began to laugh wheezily. It was so ridiculous. "Renee… There's bigger things in the world right now."

"Still…" she pouted.

"Your friend is… somewhat…" Lyn began.

"She's really nice," Ceniro hastened to assure her, before the two women started off any more on the wrong foot. "And she hasn't been running around half the world for the last few months, chasing shadows and things…"

Renee's eyes brightened. "So you have stories!"

"Er… yes. More interesting ones than the ones I used to tell you, anyway."

"And you are of course the famous Lady Lyndis we all heard about last year," Renee said to Lyn. "I'm so pleased to meet you! Of all the places in the world, I didn't think to hear Ceniro's name connected with something so dramatic. He's usually so quiet, you know?"

"I do know," Lyn said, not quite softening all the way, though trying to.

Renee's eyes twinkled knowingly. "Well, I might not have been your girlfriend during your workaholic days, but I think the position's been filled, hmm?"

Ceniro coughed. "Yes. Yes, it has."

She squealed and threw her arms around him. "I'm so happy for you! And with a beautiful noblewoman, too! Aren't you afraid of her sword?"

"No…? It's part of her, like you and your spear."

"Pssh, I wouldn't use my spear in real battle. But she looks like she'd rather fight than dress up."

"That's very true," Lyn and Ceniro said at the same time.

"Anyway, I should let you go. Come see me after dinner! I'll be in the officer's wing. Tell me all your stories!" She turned with a wave and ran off to the walls.

"She seems… nice," Lyn said cautiously.

"She is nice," Ceniro said. "She helped me get through university. I won't tell her the whole story, I think. But I can tell her some parts."

Lyn finally smiled at him. "I trust your discretion." Then she looked around. "Hey! What are you all looking at?" People had stopped to stare, and now began to move along again.

Ceniro began to blush, and then an elbow leaned on his shoulder. "Well, well, well, Ceniro the shy tactician's gettin' it on with the ladiiiieeeees," Sain drawled, and Ceniro coughed a laugh. Lyn rolled her eyes.

"She's just an old friend," Ceniro tried to say.

"Old friends don't slap you when they see you again." Sain thought about that for a moment. "Actually, I guess they do, never mind."

"What, has Kent slapped you?"

"Well… he's punched me, certainly."

"You deserved it," Kent said, approaching with Fiora, Wil, and Florina in his wake. "I specifically told you that you could spend time with whatever lady-friend you were chasing that week _after_ training was done."

"But General Wallace already beat me up for slacking that day…"

Kent ignored him. "Lady Lyndis, the mounts have been settled. If Ceniro could point us in the way of our temporary quarters so we may also be settled…"

"Yes, you and _your_ lady-friend?" Sain asked, winking at Fiora, who looked embarrassed. Ceniro glanced down and suddenly saw that Kent and Fiora were surreptitiously holding hands. He turned away to hide his wide smile.

"R-right," he said. "The Caelin soldiers are on the third level on the right side. Since Florina is currently with Caelin, I asked her sisters be in the same area as well…"

"Th-thank you very much," Florina said. "Who is going to be near Nils? He's still with Merlinus right now…"

"I am," Ceniro said. "I'm glad you were looking after him this last little while. But you need some time to rest, yourself, too."

"You know who would be good at looking after him?" Lyn said. "Hawkeye. He seemed close to both of them, more than you would expect. I think he has a daughter, someone told me? I know it's a bit late, but put him next to Nils. You need to rest most of all of us."

"I'll do that," Ceniro promised. "But come on, Lyn, I don't even fight…"

"We should probably change that," she said, leading him into the castle towards where the nobles were being housed.

"No thanks," he said.

Matthew met them in the hall. His usual cheerful smile was only a little forced. "Ah, Ceniro, Lady Lyn, just the people I was hoping to see! Lord Hector asks that you come by his chambers after you have eaten so you can do all your special secret planning to stop the end of the world and such."

"Thanks, Matthew," Lyn said, patting his shoulder. "Have a good evening."

"My lady is too kind," Matthew replied, inclining his head and letting them pass.

.

When they joined Hector in his room, Athos was with him.

"Good, you're here," Hector said. "Graybeard, you know something, don't you? Tell me! What are we supposed to do now?"

"A moment, lad… Yes, I suppose you've a right to know…" Athos paused to collect his thoughts, folding his hands inside his voluminous sleeves. "I first met Nergal some 500 years ago, wandering the Nabata wasteland. Like me, his only drive was the search for truth in this world. We were equals in power and knowledge, and we became fast friends. We believed we could solve the mysteries of the world. We truly believed…" The Archsage's voice faded into regretful obscurity.

"What happened?" Lyn asked, sitting crosslegged on the floor near Athos's feet.

"A disagreement," Athos said, rousing himself. "A disagreement, made at the height of our quest. One day, as I charted the mysteries of Nabata, I came across the most amazing village… It was unbelievable, but in that place, humans and dragons lived together in cooperation."

"Dragons and humans? Are you telling me they could live together in peace?" Hector asked, amazed.

"At first, I doubted what my own eyes showed me. But yes, the village truly did exist."

"That's wonderful!" Lyn said.

"The dragons that I beheld there… They were both similar to and different from the dragons I had fought hundreds of years before…"

They all turned as they heard the door shut.

Eliwood stood at the door, his face still pale, his eyes shadowed and weary. But his blue eyes were beginning to revive from the colourless stare they had had all day. He looked around at all of them and their apprehension.

After a moment, Hector indicated an empty chair next to him, and Eliwood came to join him. "Go on, please."

"…As you wish," said Athos after a brief pause. "They had refused to fight humans in the war, and instead, they retreated to this wasteland. They desired nothing but to remain hidden from the outside. Nergal and I crafted a barrier and created an oasis for them. Upon their invitation, we lived there with them. Our life there… It was calm and satisfying. At some point, the village became known as Arcadia, a place of perfect peace for travelers gone astray."

"So, not the place where we met you, right?" Lyn asked.

"No, that was another place… The dragons' libraries were a dream come true to us. We studied their language and history with unbridled passion. A century, then two… Time passed in an eye's blink. And yet, slowly, our thoughts turned down different paths."

"In what way?" she asked.

"I wanted to share the dragons' wisdom with others. My hope was for our earthly paradise to spread outward."

"And Nergal?" Hector asked grimly.

"Ah, Nergal… He took the dragons' knowledge… He learned the art of stealing the essence from living creatures and turning it into power. It was terrible. When we discovered what he was doing, the elders and I tried to persuade him to stop. But the power bewitched him, and he was deaf to our pleas. He started with small creatures and grew ever more confident. Then, he began draining the quintessence of humans. The villagers and I joined forces and… defeated him. Or so we thought, but…"

"A psychopath," Eliwood muttered with heat.

"After he was banished from Arcadia, Nergal fled to Bern. He increased his power slowly to avoid our eye. Using quintessence, he made his puppets, the morphs. They're bewitching in form, with intellects beyond human. I'm sure you've laid eyes on them yourselves. Jet black hair, pale complexion, and blood-red lips… Their most striking features are their glittering gold eyes…"

Lyn's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, someone knocked politely but urgently on the door. Athos paused, and Hector turned to the door. "What?"

The door opened, and a soldier's helmet appeared. "Lord Hector! W-we're under attack! An unknown group has breached the castle walls!"

"What!?" Hector jumped to his feet. "When? How? How did they get in without being noticed?"

"Just now! They… they just appeared out of nowhere! The guards on the walls have been annihilated!"

"Blast it," Hector growled. "Castle Ostia is famed far and wide as being impregnable… If it's been breached so easily, can we save it!?"

"It's Nergal," Athos said. "He must have opened some kind of portal inside the castle."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out, old man. Ceniro! We need you! We need a plan! Get our forces moving, we have experience fighting morphs!"

"On it," Ceniro said, already working with the farseer.

"Blast… That arrogant… No matter what, I'll not let the castle fall while my brother's away!" Hector grabbed the Wolf Beil and stormed from the room.

"Hang on, I'm going with you!" Lyn said, running after him. Eliwood followed silently.

"Eliwood…"

"My horse is here," Eliwood said quietly. "I will fight too."

"Eliwood?"

"I need to fight, Ceniro. I need… catharsis."

"I understand. I'll have Marcus intercept you."

"Ceniro, I'm going to the throne room," Hector said. "It must be secured first. Can you see the area?"

"Yes," Ceniro said. "I'll gather our forces to you. The enemy appears to have left the outer walls and are now heading there as well through the main south entrance."

"Understood," Hector said.

"Eliwood!" Lyn cried.

"…What?"

"Don't overexert yourself."

Eliwood was quiet for a moment. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm not that weak."

"Tell all the soldiers!" Hector said, apparently to an Ostian captain, not Ceniro. "Take your posts, and don't move. All we can do is hold on until reinforcements arrive. Hold your positions! My friends' forces are backing us up, so take heart!"

Ceniro checked to make sure Hawkeye was with Nils, then turned to Athos. "What will you do, sir?"

"I will not be taking part," Athos said. "I fear to bring more destruction than the puppets attacking do."

Ceniro blinked. "Even with a basic Fire spell?"

"Even so. Go, your friends need you. If you need me, this castle cannot be saved."

Ceniro nodded. "I understand. Um. I'll see you later. Sir." He turn and ran off in the direction that Hector had gone, feeling somewhat stupid.

He knew he was getting close when he began hearing barbed insults from an alto voice and a bass voice. "Well maybe if your thrice-unwashed lizard wasn't blocking the corridor, I could hasten to protect my Lady Lyndis!" Definitely General Wallace.

"And maybe the little teapot needs to take a back-seat to obviously superior strength and skill!" Vaida retorted, though as far as Ceniro could tell, both were making good time to the throne room.

"Excuse me," Ceniro said. "Tactician here."

"Well, you certainly don't get to go first!" Vaida snapped. "You're squishy! Although maybe I should definitely let you go first then…"

"You will not let Sir Ceniro go into danger!" Wallace barked. "Sir Ceniro, stay close to me, and I will take you to Lady Lyndis."

"Right," Ceniro said. He suddenly realized that he hadn't really spoken to Wallace since he had become reinvolved with Lyn, and wondered if Wallace would do or say anything about it.

"Though if you ever break her heart, I will not hesitate to throw you to the wolves myself!" Wallace finished. Well, there it was. "But I trust you, lad. Come! Let us carve a path through… well, there are no enemies at the moment, only this useless hunk of dragon meat."

"Come on, Umbriel, eat his eyes," Vaida mockingly encouraged her wyvern.

They came out into the more open part of Ostia's Great Hall, and Vaida had space to take off. "Finally," both she and Wallace grumbled at the same time.

In fact, the entire army was assembling in good order, all heading towards the high dais where Marquess Ostia's throne was set. Hector was standing in front of it, Lyn was jogging in place beside him to warm up, and a crowd of both Ostian soldiers and their own forces was gathered around them. The ranks parted enough to let Ceniro through.

When he got to the top, where he could oversee the entire Great Hall, there was a clatter of horses from the right and the horse-mounted knights appeared, with Eliwood at their head.

Eliwood seemed to have cast off at least some of his dispair in the time it had taken him to prepare for combat. He was wearing a little more armour than usual, and in his hand was a lance. He was not carrying Durandal, but neither was Hector carrying Armads. Ceniro thought back to what Erk had said about collateral damage and wondered if that was the reason.

They could sort it out later. For now, Eliwood joined Hector and Lyn, his head high and his blue eyes steady.

"Good timing," Hector said to him, and nodded at the door. Black shadows were scurrying in. The Ostian soldiers shifted uneasily. "Hey! Stay where you are. Trust our tactician."

"Beg your pardon, sir, but which one is our tactician?"

Hector blinked, confused. "Um… this one?" He pointed at Ceniro.

"Aww, but what about me?" Renee appeared from behind a soldier. "I'm the tactician of this garrison!"

"Well… just… figure it out between yourselves. But Ceniro's in charge, got it?"

"…Yes, Lord Hector."

Was he qualified to be in charge?

He shook himself. Of course he was. Just because he had uncertain associations with this place… and because tragedy had befallen them yesterday… None of that meant he had lost any of his skill.

So why did he feel so unsure?

Say something, he said to himself. Act, and results will follow. Something Lord Garlant used to say a lot. "Renee. Let's get a shield wall up to defend our mages and archers from those archers. Fiora, keep the flyers back! Pent, Erk, Nino, we can use some Elfire out in front while the formation falls into place! Geitz, Dart, Guy, give them cover! Hecter, Oswin, Wallace, join the ranks!" The heavily armoured men would help bolster the regular Ostian infantry, which were being ordered into place by Renee. She knew her forces, undoubtedly, but he knew his forces and he would be giving a poor thanks to Hector by letting even one of his soldiers fall – even if he wasn't commanding them directly.

He consulted the farseer. "Eliwood, there appears to be a concentration of shaman over on our left. You'll lead a charge against them with the mounted knights. Isadora! Take Lucius with you! Lowen, take Serra! Protect them, but give them the space they need to blast the shaman!" He turned to Renee. "That should take care of the next five minutes. Any ideas?"

Renee paused to stare at him. "I can see why Lord Hector likes you. What is that thing? Tell me later. Er, I was thinking of sending out some troops to protect the treasures of the hall, in that alcove there."

"Right," Ceniro said. He gave quick orders, and soon things were arrayed to his liking, in a formation that danced the line between offense and defense. He knew Renee would rather concentrate on defense, but one of his goals was to eliminate the morphs as quickly as ever he could. With that in mind, he sent the pegasi and wyverns to the right to flank the enemy, despite the danger from the many archers. He trusted their skill.

He trusted his own skill.

Slowly, they began to push the morphs back. Though Bartre and Serra quickly found that the enemy archers' arrows were not only long, strong, and sharp, but also poisoned, there were beginning to be fewer of them – at least not so close to the throne.

At least they were easy to identify. Between their black robes and pale skin, they stood out among the brightly-armoured Ostians, knights, and mercenaries, and that was without their nearly-glowing golden eyes and streaming, raven hair. And their last, very interesting feature of turning to dust when they were killed.

Ceniro himself moved up with the front lines. It was risky, certainly, but he was behind the lords, and he and Renee had decided to split their duties that way – he was in the thick of things, and she oversaw from the top, though he had essentially the same view through the farseer.

Elfire was doing less damage than he had hoped, although he was seeing now that the morphs had many shamans with them as well as archers. He would have to try extra hard to keep the slow, heavy Ostian knights out of the fight, despite all the good they were doing with their shields.

He would need to send the pegasus sisters to clear out some of the magic, and even the wyverns, who he trusted would be fast enough to get past the dark magic and win over their natural weakness to magic.

"Wil!" Florina shrieked, and Ceniro turned to see the optimistic archer fall backwards, an arrow in his side. Florina's pegasus clattered to the stone floor beside him, out of formation.

"Pent, Louise!, defend them! Matthew, Legault, guard Pent and Louise! Canas, help Wil."

"Wil!" Florina cried, holding him. "Hold on, we'll save you! You have to hold on… I didn't… tell you…"

"Don't cry, Miss Florina," said Canas said, appearing over her shoulder. "He will live. Let me just…"

"Florina!" Farina cried. "Get back here! There's a druid we need to Triangle on!"

"It's all right," Ceniro said. "Jaffar is on it. Florina, help Canas get Wil to the back. That was too close."

"Why didn't you move?" Florina asked the archer, who was opening his eyes.

He smiled weakly. "Rebecca was behind me… Lowen would skewer me if anything happened to her…"

"True, but it didn't have to result in a casualty," Ceniro told him, and the archer gave him a 'what-are-you-gonna-do' shrug.

The morphs were taking advantage of the confusion in the centre of the line to remount an offensive, and things were getting thick. In a moment Ceniro himself would have to pull back or give up on giving orders to defend himself, neither options ones that he liked. But… Matthew was now in danger, far too far forward, and Hector was too far away to cover him. "Raven! Harken-!"

Both swordsmen acknowledged him without disengaging from their current opponents, but Ceniro had to duck as he found himself suddenly exposed to archers. He had to get things back on track, but for that he needed a space to get Raven, Harken, and Guy into the gap that he was currently smack in the middle of…

"Ostian knights! Forward!" cried Renee's voice, and the welcome orange of the heavy infantry swept in front of him from the left. "Don't forget about us, Cen!"

"Thanks," he called breathlessly, climbing back up to her. "Eliwood, bring your group back – it's time to push to the leader. Hector, Lyn, Rath, you'll be in that group too."

"Ostian knights, give them cover! We are the shield and they are the spear!" Renee said, lifting her own spear aloft.

"Does that help?" Ceniro asked.

"Sure does," Renee said. "You haven't changed at all, have you!? Of course you would formulate a plan that near-collapses with the loss of a single archer!"

"He's not a single archer, his name is Wil, and he's highly competent," Ceniro said.

"And his girlfriend breaking formation for him? She could have been shot down, and she very nearly was! You have too many girls in your army."

He actually hadn't thought about that hardly at all, but he had a ready comeback for that. "You're a girl, aren't you?" Although, now that he counted, the men outnumbered the women at least two to one in his army.

"I'm a woman, there's a difference. I'm not saying you should pull people like that wyvern lady out of combat, she'd take your head off. It's the others I'm worried about, especially those little green-haired girls."

"They're fine, I have them protected, they can take care of themselves-"

"Even when they get upset? They're not old enough to know how to deal with this kind of situation! Emotions are important to keep down in the thick of combat!"

"To people who fight with their heart, which is most people, emotion is very important especially in the heat of combat! They insisted, and I won't turn them down. Besides, look at the casualty rate on both sides!"

"That's true," Renee grudgingly admitted. "We haven't lost anyone at all yet, and they're missing half their force. I can see why we lost our sentries… but I can also see why we're winning now."

"Then let's save the rest of this academic discussion for later," Ceniro said. "Here comes my spearhead."

"Ceniro, you do know there's a swordmaster with a katana up there, right?"

"I know. Eliwood?"

Eliwood came up to him, looking much more like himself, though still grim. "Your orders?"

"When I give the signal, you are going to charge the enemy leader. Halfway there, though, there's a swordmaster approaching. He's yours and Lyn's. I recommend charging with the lance to distract him and then letting Lyn strike from your shadow."

"I like that idea," Lyn said. "Can I ride with you partway, Eliwood?"

He extended a hand to her and she sprang up behind him.

"You do know how to ride," she said approvingly.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Thank you."

"We'll be right back," she said to Ceniro with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Rath, you're to take out the enemy leader as soon as you can – he has a heavy bow and it could do a lot of damage even as the mounted knights charge." Rath nodded silently. "If you don't kill him immediately, it's up to Hector to finish the job."

"Got it!" Hector said, spinning his axe. "Who am I riding with?"

"Marcus. Marcus, Kent, you and the rest of the knights are to keep the sniper occupied until Rath or Hector brings him down. Fiora, Vaida, get the shaman around the edges but keep an eye on the sniper."

"Just leave it to us," Vaida snarled.

"Renee, are your knights ready to open a gap?" Ceniro said.

"Ready on your mark," she answered.

"NOW!" he yelled, and the cavalry charged. Ostia Hall shook with their hooves until Ceniro feared it would collapse around them. But the old hall was better built than that.

Eliwood was first; the swordsman dodged his lance but Lyn sprang from the back of Eliwood's horse, doing a flip over the morph's head and locking swords with him on the way down. The Mani Katti shone with a light he hadn't seen in some time. The other knights gave the two swordfighters a wide berth, their swords cutting wide arcs through the air.

"Lady Lyndis is really something," Renee murmured.

"She really is," Ceniro said.

Lyn's sword stabbed through his shoulder, and he fell to the floor, unnaturally silent but writhing.

A dark magic spell attempted to catch Lyn, but she was far too quick for that and was gone before the spell was even half-formed. The fallen morph was not so lucky – caught within the dark sphere's influence, it was ripped in half and turned to dust. Ceniro winced. Whatever else the morphs were made of, they still had some kind of flesh and blood. And still it didn't scream.

Disturbing.

There was one morph who spoke. Well… Ceniro wondered if he was truly speaking, or just making sounds the way a parrot would. At least he was capable of making sounds. Even the morph shaman cast spells without speaking – a trait that made them especially dangerous.

As they drew closer to the lead morph, they could hear his words echoing monotonously through the hall. "This is a message from Lord Nergal. 'I await you on the Dread Isle.' This is a message from Lord Nergal. 'I await you on the Dread Isle.' This is a message…" He dodged Rath's arrows as if he could see them before Rath even fired.

"Shut up!" Hector roared, jumping off Marcus's horse and charging at the morph. "We already knew that!"

Ceniro quietly ordered the rest of the army to move up in the wake of the cavalry charge.

Hector was beginning to look slightly pin-cushiony, but he was still moving, still attacking, probably ignoring whatever wounds he had taken in favour of adrenaline-pumped fury. The morph was methodically targeting each of the knights in turn, and Hector soon wasn't the only one with an arrow lodged somewhere it probably shouldn't be. Ceniro had Isadora withdraw, putting Harken in her place, and substituted Geitz for Lowen.

Hector closed to within striking distance finally.

The morph spun around to target him at point-blank range.

Rath's horse jumped clear over Hector; time seemed to slow as he reached the apex of his arc, and Rath's bow twanged.

The morph fell to the ground, an arrow in his skull, and his repeated message petered into silence as he fell into dust.

.

It took the army a while to collect themselves, and the healers were busy for a long time. Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn extricated themselves fairly early, with the assurance that Oswin and Marcus would deal with the rest of it. They came to rescue Ceniro from an increasingly heated discussion with Renee on how things could or should have gone differently. "Sorry, Lady Renee, we need him for our plans for tomorrow."

"If you don't come back to Ostia to catch up within the next month, I am going to be very angry and probably hit you again," Renee threatened him.

"Got it," Ceniro said. "Stay away for another ten years."

She growled and he laughed, and she smiled, and he followed his friends.

Along the way, they passed Harken and Isadora, close in talk, and he paused to eavesdrop. It wasn't his business, really – although it partly was, to know how his people were doing emotionally as well as physically.

His people. Were they really 'his' people? They were Eliwood's people, or Hector's, or Lyn's, or just their own, joined for love or gold. Or love of gold. Or both.

But they trusted him with their lives, and so far, he had mostly delivered.

"I'm fine," Isadora said. "It was a small wound, and Lady Priscilla healed it immediately."

"Still, I was worried… I am glad Ceniro put me in your place. I only wish I could have taken your place from the beginning."

"Harken, you have always known I have skill in combat… Don't seek to dissuade me now, though our foes are far greater than anything we ever imagined."

"No… it's just…" Harken lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I… love you, Isadora. It's… not easy for me, in so many ways, and I know it's not easy for you. And I don't think it's going to get easier, not any time soon. But I wanted you to know that…"

"That you were worried," she finished, and he nodded. "Thank you, Harken, my love." She put her arms around him, he put his arms around her, and she pulled him close and kissed him.

"I don't deserve this," he whispered.

"Don't say that," Isadora whispered back, and by now Ceniro was tip-toeing away, because he had definitely stayed too long and heard too much. But he was glad their relationship was… intact, though it still had a long way to go.

.

"So, Greybeard, those were his morphs," Hector said to Athos as they returned. "You knew that already, of course, probably."

"They were all eerily similar," Lyn murmured. "But you know who they remind me of? That man on Valor, Ephidel… Black Fang's Sonia, too… Are you saying that he made them all?"

"It is so," Athos said. "I have not met the ones you speak of, but I would guess with certainty that it is so."

"But they were more intelligent, Ephidel and Sonia," Eliwood said. "These ones didn't even speak, except for that one leading them."

"Yet they moved with purpose and skill," Lyn said. "The only reason we could match them was because we'd fought them before, at Sonia's lair."

"It is an abomination," Athos said. "A crime against all that is natural. When Nergal began using morphs to carry out his plans, his power had grown beyond our ability to contain him. After humans, his next target became the essence of dragons."

"That's why he went to the Dragon's Gate?" Eliwood asked.

Athos nodded slowly. "I was certain back then that his next target had to be Arcadia. I concealed our paradise behind a curtain of sandstorms. I then hid in the underground ruins and waited for him. I did not hope to defeat him. Just to exchange blows… and then draw him into the desert, which would be his end."

"But he never showed up," Eliwood said, nodding.

"Correct. I've no idea how he managed it but… He called those siblings through the Dragon's Gate. And now… he plans to call a horde of dragons to this land."

"We have to protect Nils at all cost," Hector murmured. "What should we do next, then? How can we seek to defeat him now?"

"Our last hope is still the power of the Legendary Weapons," Athos said. "But it would take too long for us to gather all of them. I will go to the Shrine of Seals and tell Bramimond everything. We must have his power, too."

Eliwood stood from his seat, his eyes burning passionately. "Then we will go to the Dragon's Gate ahead of you."

Athos turned to face him, startled. "What?"

"Great idea!" Hector said. "Even if we can't take him down right away, we can at least wipe out his morph-troops. Soften him up for when you get there."

"You know that such a thing could be suicide, no matter your strength or your tactics?" Athos said.

"If we don't answer Nergal's invitation soon… He'll continue to send out troops after us," Lyn said. "If that's going to happen, we might as well take the fight to him! I won't have Elibe ravaged by any more of his acts!"

Athos looked around at the three of them, the same light in all their eyes. "You… you truly are Roland's children. I had not thought I would ever be surprised again, and yet…"

"Lord Athos," said Eliwood.

"It takes the strongest of bonds to alter the course of fate. Go… Go, my youthful friends. Set your sights on the Dragon's Gate and keep moving."

"We will," Lyn promised. "You're with us, right, Ceniro?"

Ceniro stood to join the rest of them. "I'm not leaving your side. I'm seeing this through to the end."

"Good," Hector said. "We'll need you. Only going to be more of those guys."

"Eliwood, Hector, where are the Legendary Weapons?" Athos asked.

"Ah… in my room," Eliwood said. "I… couldn't… bring myself to use it."

"Me either," Hector said, striding to where the great axe leaned against the wall. "Even after what I told Durban… I didn't know if I wanted to use a weapon that controlled itself in my own castle."

"I'm sorry," Eliwood said.

"There is no need to apologize," Athos said. "May I take them for a while?"

"Yes," Eliwood said.

"It's fine, but…" Hector began.

"Eliwood, Hector, I understand how you both feel. But without these weapons, we won't be able to stop Nergal. …You know that, don't you?"

"…Yes," said Eliwood. "When next I wield it… I won't hesitate."

"Besides, we should wait for Lyn to catch up!" Hector teased.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "I'm still miles ahead of you even without a legendary blade, Hector. In fact, my sword is already somewhat legendary."

"You wield the Mani Katti, do you not?" Athos asked. "It is not one of the Legendary Eight, but it is indeed a marvelous sword, and only reinforces my plan." Lyn looked confused, but Athos rose before she could ask questions. "I will be on my way, then. You all… get your rest."

"Right," Ceniro said.

"As if we could do that now," Hector said. "Ugh, I'm never going to sleep tonight…"

"Try," Lyn said tartly.

Eliwood smiled. Then he turned to Ceniro. "Do you mind if I check on Nils?"

"He should be okay," Ceniro said. "He's next door; I had Hawkeye with him during the battle."

"Thank you," Eliwood said. "Rest well, everyone."

.

Lyn followed him as he left for the room assigned to him. "Ceniro, wait."

He turned. "What is it? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, and Ceniro took a better took at her anyway. She seemed tense, as if she had something important to say but was too shy or proud to say it. "I was wondering…"

"Mmhmm?"

"Just for tonight… can I stay with you?"

Well, that he hadn't been expecting. "Lyn, it's…"

"I know! But… just to be with you. We haven't been able to properly be together for… weeks, really. And… we're both reserved, undemonstrative people when it comes to this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hold you often."

"Or I you," he said, smiling. "But with you beside me I worry that I won't get any sleep, even if nothing happens."

"Nothing will happen," she assured him, standing nose-to-nose with him. Her proximity was making his heart pound like they were in the middle of a battle. "Just this is our best chance of having a moment before things go all crazy."

"You're not seducing me with 'tomorrow we may die', are you?" he teased.

"Absolutely not. You'll make sure none of us die. And I'm not seducing you!"

"Noted," he said, and his hands were on her slender waist, and she was leaning against him, her hands on his shoulders. "Lyn…"

"Shhh," she said, and kissed him.


	10. Chapter 10: Victory or Death

Chapter 10: Victory or Death

.

It was as Hector predicted – he looked unrested the next morning, though he tried to conceal it with a cheerful, or at least confident face.

Too confident. Ceniro thought back to how Hector had seemed a few days ago, and again yesterday when he asked after his brother, and wondered if it was still bothering him. He didn't think he should ask Matthew of it, as the roguish spy would take things into his own hands – too far, Ceniro worried.

Eliwood and Lyn didn't seem to notice, though Eliwood of course still looked worse, with red eyes and a pale face. Lyn was eating breakfast with Ceniro, and Eliwood ate with Hector – not a lot, but food was going in, and that was what was important. Ceniro watched their leader, watched his steady hands as he took in porridge, and wondered how much inner strength he had to be able to keep going even now after everything.

Nils, on the other hand, still was not eating or responding, locking himself in his room. Even Florina couldn't get in to be with him.

It was a beautiful day, an unexpectedly beautiful late summer day, and Ceniro thought it was a pity they had to spend it marching quickly towards Badon. He would have preferred to walk in a leisurely fashion, taking the time to look at everything… But Nergal wasn't waiting around, so neither could they.

Hector, unexpectedly, was the one with a suggestion that appealed most to him. "Hey, Ceniro, Lyn, c'mere, I have an idea."

"What is it?" Lyn said, hopping her chair over to their table. Ceniro followed more slowly.

"We're going to need lots of supplies for a campaign on Valor. I sent word to Badon yesterday asking if Captain Fargus would take us again, and I'm waiting on word back before we set out. I figure we could use the time to…"

"Go shopping?" Lyn asked with a cheeky smile. "Hector, you shouldn't have!"

"As long as you don't blow the country's GDP on frilly dresses and jewelry, it'll be fine," he groused. "Took me long enough to settle on a reasonable sum with Oswin as it was."

"Hector, since when have I been a girl for frilly dresses?" Lyn said, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"You'd look good in them," Hector mumbled, looking somewhere off to the side, away from her.

She giggled. "I'll take that into consideration when looking for armour."

"Plenty of women do," Eliwood said.

"What, like Serra?" Hector snorted.

"I was thinking more like Louise," Eliwood said.

"She does dress very pretty," Lyn said. "Far too pink for me, but it suits her. But I'm going to stay with my Sacaean dress. So you don't have to worry about your… what did you call it? Your GPD?"

"GDP," Hector said. "It's a money thing."

"So you were paying attention in class," Eliwood said mildly.

"What else was I going to do?"

"What you normally do?"

"I was bored enough to pay attention some days, shut up."

Ceniro smiled. "So, new weapons for everyone?"

"New high-quality weapons, from the city's best smiths," Hector said, glad to get the conversation back on track. "Not only that, but healing and other staves, vulneraries, regular bandages, and enough food to feed us for a month. Which, with the two wyverns and all the horses, is going to be a lot."

"Better tell Fargus to bring an extra boat," Lyn teased.

"I did, actually," Hector said, in the same vein.

"Why, I'm more and more surprised! Hector planned ahead?" She smiled incredulously at Eliwood, who couldn't help but smile back.

Hector rolled his eyes, but he too saw the smile on Eliwood's face and withheld his retort.

"I'll ask Marcus and Oswin to help us pick the best places, and get the stronger soldiers together to carry things," Eliwood said.

"And discourage pickpockets," Ceniro added. "Though I guess if your funds are as deep as you suggest they are, you'd notice large bags of gold leaving your person."

"I'm not bringing physical gold," Hector said. "I'm bringing a lot of IOUs, and leaving a note with my brother's treasurer." He smirked, and Lyn laughed, but Ceniro couldn't help but think there was a hesitation in the smirk.

"I've heard that in Etruria, they call those 'cheques,'" Eliwood said. "Apparently they're becoming very popular."

"But kind of silly if you just need new boots or something," Hector said. Ceniro glanced at his own. He probably should get new ones again soon. But not yet. He'd mention it to one of the lords after they won.

Eliwood smiled. "But Etrurian boots are very expensive."

"All right, what if you just wanted a snack?"

"That's a better comparison…"

Ceniro felt in his own pockets and paused. "Hang on a minute…"

"What is it?" Eliwood asked.

"I'm not sure," he said, bringing out a brown, rounded disc. "Matthew gave it to me ages ago, I think. I forgot about it. I should probably use it."

"What does it do, though?" Hector said.

Ceniro thought back, and his grey eyes got very big. "I think it explodes."

Hector shoved his chair back from the table. "And you've been _carrying it on your person!?_ What kind of-!?"

Ceniro looked more closely at it. "Oh, there's instructions on the bottom. That's convenient."

"I would agree," Eliwood said. He hadn't jumped as much as Hector, but he still looked alarmed, and Ceniro felt guilty.

"It says… to use this, turn the centre dial once counterclockwise. When it clicks, it is ready and will go off when stepped on."

"Nasty," Lyn said. "Please don't keep that in your pocket anymore."

"I'm not going to," Ceniro said. "I honestly forgot about it. It's not that heavy or anything, and…"

"No one cares about how heavy it is, we only care that our friend has been walking around with his life literally in his pocket," Hector said, holding out his hand. "Give it here. I'll find a place for it. It sounds vastly useful and a lot of fun, but you're not keeping it."

Ceniro gave it up with a sheepish smile. "I understand. But let's not keep it in Merlinus's cart, either. That sounds like an equally bad idea."

"Matthew gave it to you, eh? Maybe I'll give it back to him. As punishment."

"You're so cruel," Lyn said.

"If you're done eating and scaring me half to death, we could get moving," Hector said, and stood, holding firmly to the bomb. "I'll get Oswin and Marcus, and give this to Matthew. Ceniro, you pick the people to carry things, and don't say Vaida's wyvern. Or Farina's pegasus. Or Serra. Anyone else, you can take. Eliwood, Lyn, I'll meet you at the front gates when you're ready."

"See you there," Eliwood said calmly.

.

They set out about ten minutes later, the six of them and five of the strongest in their army – and Merlinus. They were heading down the hill into the city towards the northeast, where the smiths were to be found.

Marcus admired the place. "Ostia's castle town is as impressive as ever. Shops and items of all types imaginable."

"For generations, our ancestors dedicated themselves to a sort of frugal militarism. Nobles and commoners alike shunned extravagance," Hector said. "'Corrupt neither the body nor the mind,' they cried! Since the time of Roland, this has been the dominant ideology of Ostia. At least, it used to be."

"I heard that when Lord Uther first participated in the Lycian Council as Marquess Ostia, he gave a scathing indictment of the peer system," Marcus said. "Now I understand, his philosophy had its roots in the history of Ostia itself."

Hector chuckled. "I was only a kid then. But that's what happened. Yet this thinking… it threatens the lifestyles of many of our aristocrats. So some groups view my brother with enmity." He frowned, thinking. "I must grow wiser so that I can sit at my brother's side and aid him." Ceniro and Lyn raised eyebrows at each other, and Eliwood's mouth curved into a slight smile. "Of course, my fighting skills are not yet what they should be…"

The end of that sentence trailed off far too quietly, and the other three looked at each other. Ceniro realized, they knew. They knew something was wrong with Hector, or at least his brother. He didn't know what, but he knew it would undoubtedly have something to do with Lord Uther. Was he ill? Had he even died? But if that were the case, even Hector would have said something.

Hector himself interrupted his thoughts. "Anyway, it's not time to worry about that. Come on! There's our first destination."

His friends, though, hung back. "Curious," Lyn said to Eliwood.

"What is?" he asked.

"Hector. He acts like such a moron sometimes, but he takes his duties seriously."

"Hector has always been a man of firm character. I've always envied him for his ability to conceal any doubts he feels about himself or his actions…"

Lyn nodded. "I know. I'm a little envious too."

"How so, exactly?" Eliwood asked.

"He doesn't second-guess what he must do. No hesitation. I mean, I wouldn't hesitate about anything concerning my grandfather's health. In fact, I'd be happy to do anything I could. I thought I was all alone in the world, and now that I've found my family, I don't want to lose him."

"I know what you mean," Eliwood said. "I can't bear to think of losing my mother. If I survive all of this, I want to be at my mother's side… to do anything she asks."

"We'll fight to make sure you get there," Lyn said, smiling at Ceniro, who nodded. "Yet… despite the fact that family is so dear to me… Yet in my heart, the plains still call me… The neverending oceans of grass… The memory of that wind-blown scent alone is enough to leave me weak… I'm torn…"

"Lyn…" Ceniro said.

Lyn shook herself. "But you know, Eliwood, like you said, you're not so weak yourself. Even with all the horrible things that have happened to you, more than anyone else in our group except perhaps Nino, you're still here. You didn't run away. Through all the battles and injuries… you've held your head high and marched on. Your… your strength, I admire. We all admire it."

"You're not only strong, but kind," Ceniro said. "And you're not afraid to show it. Isn't there a saying… 'Evil runs when a good man goes to war'? That's you, Eliwood. Nergal won't stand a chance against you."

"Thank you, my friends," Eliwood said, noticably embarrassed. "But I could never have gotten here without the rest of you."

"Well, that's a given," Hector said, having come back to look for them. "What's holding you up now? It's not time for introspection either. Why are you all flushed? Hey, Eliwood, I found this really sweet sword, I think I want it even though I'm not giving up my axe…"

"Now who's wasting their canton's taxpayer's money?" Lyn teased, and Hector snorted.

.

Shopping for weapons, medical supplies, and food took most of the morning, and they split up a few times to cover more ground. When Ceniro saw Hector again, he was looking more sombre even than before, though it was only moments later that Lyn snuck up on him and tossed his cloak over his head, making him yell at her in amused exasperation.

"So… I'm sorry," she said, hands demurely behind her back, as he struggled to right himself.

"For ambushing me with my own clothing? I should think so!"

"No… for… When we first met, I criticized your fighting style, remember? …I wanted to apologize…"

"What, that?" Hector asked, honestly confused. "That was ages ago. I'd forgotten about it. Why bring it up now?"

"I used to think you were selfish, oblivious to others' needs. Even now, after all this time, I think you're often crude and insensitive."

Hector frowned. "Hey now… Is there a point to this?"

Lyn lowered her head. "…I used to be like that, too. I relied too much on my own strength and stuck to myself… All I did was cause problems to the people around me. …I think you're like that, too… So, sometimes, I feel I'm looking at the old me. Sometimes… I treat you horribly."

Hector chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. Sometimes you really lay into me."

"…But aboard the pirate ship that time… and just now when we set out shopping… what you said made me realize I was wrong. So… I'm sorry."

"Look," said Hector, uncomfortably. "You apologized once before. I'll admit that I've got a bad attitude a lot of the time. Just… forget about it, all right? It's not a big deal."

"Forget about it?" Lyn cried, suddenly glaring at him – though not angry with him, Ceniro though, but with herself. "I can't just forget about it! It's not good enough somehow… I… Hit me, it'll make me feel better!"

"What!?" Hector cried.

"Lyn…" Ceniro said. "I think… just calm down for a minute…" Clearly she wasn't as mature as she thought she was, if she still thought that way.

"Yeah! Just do it! Come on, I won't move."

Hector ran a hand through his blue hair and sighed. "You… Hahhh…"

Lyn tilted her head. "What is it? Are you afraid? It's not a trap, I promise."

"Self-flagellation is not…" began Ceniro.

"Shush," she shushed him. "Hector."

Hector sighed again. "It's not… Give me a break, here, you think I can hit a woman?"

"We've been sparring for ages! Just don't think of me as a woman!"

"I can't hit a woman that I…" Hector trailed off, with a sudden guilty glance at Ceniro, who flushed and ducked his head.

Lyn seemed not to have noticed. "That you what?"

"Never mind!" Hector turned and strode off, his long legs making strides the two of them had to jog to keep up with. "Let's go find Eliwood!"

"Wait!" Lyn cried. "What were you going to say…?"

"It's fine," Ceniro said, almost equally flustered. "He's right, Eliwood's been gone quite a while…"

"Sorry, were you looking for me?" Eliwood's voice came from behind them, and they turned.

"Ah, there you are!" Lyn said. "Hector! We found him!"

"Need me for something?"

"Nah, just making sure you were all right," Hector said, and Lyn sighed.

"Way to make me worry for nothing!" she said, and Hector shrugged.

"Ah well. Let's keep moving, all right?"

"Did something happen?" Eliwood murmured in a low voice to Ceniro.

"I'll tell you later," Ceniro murmured back, still trying to process it himself.

.

The only other thing of note that happened was that Bartre returned late, looking beat up, with a young-looking Sacaean woman who was also rather scuffed. It seemed they had gotten in a duel, a yet-unresolved duel, spurred by a past unresolved duel, and it also seemed that she was Karel's sister Karla. Ceniro called for Guy to show her the way to her brother, and she stared at him in surprise. Apparently she had been on a long journey to search for her brother and hadn't expected to find him so suddenly or easily.

They also returned to find Fargus's answer: he was in Badon again, and would gladly take them back to the Dread Isle.

Hector said he forgot something at the castle, but told the rest of them to go on ahead. Ceniro tried not to look worried. It was probably some talisman or something. He rejoined them less than thirty minutes later, so it couldn't have been anything terrible.

Even with their footsoldiers riding carts, it took them the rest of the day and most of the next to read Port Badon. They finished the day by loading their supplies onto the ship and prepared to depart at dawn. Though Ceniro posted a heavy watch during the night, no morphs attacked and nothing was amiss by the time they weighed anchor and set sail the next morning.

"I hope that kind of luck lasts," Lyn said, standing hand-in-hand with Ceniro at the ship's rail.

"Not too long, I hope," Hector said. "We're hoping to thin down his army before we fight him. Just… not on the continent, where there are civilians and such."

"Exactly," Lyn said. "But say, if we landed on a day with no fog, or if they were suddenly all afflicted by an illness that affects only morphs…"

"Now you're mocking me," Hector said.

"You're used to it," Ceniro said, and Hector snorted.

They reached the Dread Isle on time, though it was foggy as usual. But Matthew and Legault remembered the way, and carried torches to lead the rest of the group.

As they disembarked with their massive piles of supplies, Hector, Eliwood, Lyn, and Ceniro stuck around to talk to Fargus. "We can never thank you enough," Eliwood said earnestly.

"No need to worry about that," Fargus said jovially. "Are ye sure you don't need our help from here? Fargus's pirate crew makes women smile and villains revile! We could be helpful." Indeed, Lyn smiled in amusement.

"Thank you for your concern, but we're going alone," Ceniro said.

"We don't have any idea what will happen. We'd like you to deliver a message, if you would," Hector said.

"Even if we successfully defeat Nergal, there's no saying if we'll survive the battle," Lyn explained.

"If we don't return…" Eliwood said. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but…"

"I'll worry about that when the time comes," said Fargus. "Have no fear!"

"Thank you," said Eliwood. "Also… about Nils…"

"Yes, I'll take good care of the lad. You going to say goodbye to him afore ye set out?"

"We'll do that now," Lyn said, walking over to where Nils sat alone and silent by the sea. "Nils…? We're going now…"

He made no motion. Behind them, Ceniro could hear Fargus scolding Dart and telling him gruffly and awkwardly to make sure he came back.

The others followed her. "We're going to shatter Nergal's ambitions and bring him down!" said Hector. "You just hang out here and take it easy until we get back, okay?"

"Nils…" said Eliwood, kneeling beside him. "I… don't think you'll ever be able to forgive me for Ninian, and… I understand. But even though our power is no match for Nergal, we can't give up. I swear to you, that as long as my heart beats, I will try to prevent anything like that from happening again to anyone."

Nils made no answer except to pull up his scarf a bit more against the light wind.

"So…" Eliwood went on, "when… when things get… better for you, when you've moved past the pain a bit, please… keep going. I think that's what Ninian would want, too." When Nils held his silence, he stood and moved back towards Fargus. "…All right, we're going now…"

"Hey," Fargus said. "Don't mess this up, pups!"

"Leave it to us!" Hector said, grinning, and saluted him casually.

The three lords and the tactician followed the rest of their group into the forbidding forest.

.

Ceniro found himself walking beside Pent, Louise, and Fiora again.

"This place simply emanates hostility," Pent said. "It's fascinating."

"It's rather creepy, is it not, Lord Pent?" Louise said, her hand ever on her husband's arm.

"It is, but why? That is what I am curious about… Is it only from Nergal's influence, or is it an innate feature of the island itself?" Pent turned to Fiora. "I can only apologize again for what happened here…"

"You have no need to apologize, my lord," Fiora said. "We were careless and overestimated our abilities…"

"That's hardly true," Ceniro said. "You are a fine commander, Fiora, and a cautious, thoughtful person. And Pent certainly didn't know what this place was like. Neither of you are to blame."

"I'm not sure I can accept that," Pent said ruefully.

"You really should, my lord," Fiora said. "I have spent many sleepless nights over my Wing. I don't need you doing the same. Ceniro doesn't need you doing the same."

"I suppose you have a point," Pent said. "Though it only makes me feel more… ah… guilty, in a way."

"Lord Pent," Louise said, hugging his arm.

"I'm all right, Louise. Don't mind my gloomy talk."

"Besides, we are much stronger now," Fiora said. "Not only in numbers, and the diverse range of our skills, but since I joined this group… I have been tested in a way that I never have before, and I am far stronger personally for it."

"That is true for all of us," Louise said. "Although I once swore to protect Lord Pent with my bow, I never had cause to do so in such seriousness before. And… I am rather glad of it."

"Why is that?" Pent asked, looking confused at his wife.

"I can prove my worth," Louise said. "Perhaps not to you, for you have always valued and loved me, but to myself. Perhaps that is selfish, but…"

"A sense of self-worth is not selfish," Pent assured her. "And I am glad that you are glad, eh, Louise?"

Louise smiled. "What do you suppose we shall find ahead of us?"

"Why don't we ask Ceniro?"

"There are plenty of mysterious ruins on this island," Ceniro said. "Assuming we defeat Nergal, and assuming we survive, I'm sure you might want to visit again someday to have a look at them. Just… watch out for other people doing the same thing, all right?"

"Want to come with me?" Pent invited, half-joking.

"I'm not a huge fan of this place," Ceniro answered in the same manner. "But if you paid me lots of money…"

"Done!" Pent said, and laughed.

"I was kidding," Ceniro said, smiling. "What would I want with lots of money?"

"Ssssh!" Guy hissed, popping up beside them out of the forest. "Do you want the bad guys to hear us and ambush us?"

"I'm sorry," Ceniro said. "We'll keep it down."

.

To all of their surprise, they travelled to within sight of the Dragon's Gate unchallenged. The white ruins rose out of the forest ahead of them.

"There they are," Lyn said. "So far, so good."

"Looks like that luck you were hoping for held," Hector said. "But it's odd…"

"He's probably saving his forces to meet us head-on in a defensible position rather than spread them across the island," Ceniro said.

"Humph. That makes sense." Hector looked up. "It's not so cloudy as it was, is that a good thing?"

"I don't know," Ceniro said. "I don't know if Nergal really controls the weather. But if it raises our spirits, I'll take it for the time being."

"Sounds good," Eliwood said. "Do you think we should wait for Lord Athos here, or press on to the Gate itself? It's only another hour's march, looks like."

The sky suddenly darkened, and there was a yell from behind them. "Lord Eliwood! Move!"

Eliwood kicked his horse and it jumped ahead, half a moment before a lightning bolt fell from the sky and made a crater where he had been standing. They all looked around for the attacker, but saw no one. Ceniro checked the farseer – there was nothing on it, and that spooked him.

Hector clutched his chest. "Geez, don't scare me like that…"

Eliwood and Lyn were looking back. "Nils!?"

"Nils!" Lyn cried. "You came!"

"I did!" Nils chirped, his youthful face full of determination as he ran up to them. The determination was subdued by his having to bend over and catch his breath. It looked like he had been running after them the whole way. But he straightened up again, his eyes clear and serious. "I'm not running away anymore. I have to take Ninian's place. No, I have to do Ninian's part and mine! I'll fight with you, and we'll change the course of fate!"

"Well spoken!" Hector said, and slapped him gently on the back. "Now you sound like a man!"

Lyn hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Nils said. "I'm all right. But we have more important things to deal with first." He turned to the valley before them. "Stop skulking and come out! I know you're there!"

A morph stepped from behind a tree. This one was even more beautiful than the rest, with long, shining wavy raven hair, and serene – if expressionless – golden eyes.

They all started with shock written on their faces, and Ceniro checked his farseer in alarm. It had only just registered that the morph was present.

"Who is that?" Lyn asked.

"Limstella," Nils said. "The one who is always at Nergal's side."

"You're a morph, right?" Hector said. "You sure look like one."

Limstella's eyes didn't even flicker. "I've come for your quintessence. My servants will harvest it from you."

Ceniro looked down at the farseer and jumped. Suddenly, the valley was crawling with red-marked figures. They were outnumbered three-to-one.

The others could see some of what he saw with their own eyes, but it didn't matter to them. "We'll fight our way through, no matter the numbers!" Hector said.

"We certainly can't retreat!" Lyn agreed.

"He hasn't called any dragons yet," Nils said. "We might still be in time to stop him!"

Limstella turned and walked a few paces, then teleported away. Ceniro saw she reappeared at the entrance to the Dragon's Gate, about the same place they had encountered Darin last time.

"I guess her ambush failed," Ceniro said.

"I'm not really sure what Limstella is," Nils said to him. "I'm not sure she… it has a gender."

"It doesn't matter," Hector said. "She's in our way. We can take her, even with that powerful magic."

"That was very powerful magic," Ceniro mumbled to himself.

"By rights, no living creature should be able to use magic like that," Pent said, coming up behind him. "I suspect she will have more tricks up her sleeve. Be careful."

"It's you and Canas who will have to be careful," Ceniro warned him. "You'll be the ones taking her on, so start planning now." He turned to the field, stepping forward from the group. "Time for the greatest challenge of my career…"

"You can do it," Lyn said, smiling at him.

"Oh!" Nils cried. "Before I forget… Captain Fargus gave me this. It's the excuse I had to come." He held out his hand, and in it was an Earth Seal.

"Fantastic," Ceniro said. "I know where to use this. We'll have to thank him on our way back. All right, let's get started. Eliwood!"

"On your order!" Eliwood answered, straightening in the saddle.

He divided the army into three groups. "There are three effective passages to the Dragon's Gate, and we should probably take all three in one sweep so as to not leave any morphs at our back when we assault Nergal himself. So, each of you will lead one. I'll coordinate so that we all end up at the Gate at the same time, but you'll have to trust me on it."

"We trust you," Lyn assured him, smiling. "Who am I leading?"

Ceniro considered his map. "There a lot of ballistae scattered through the valleys; those weren't there last time, were they? Lyn, you're leading the Caelin soldiers for sure, including all three of the Pegasus sisters. Nino, Jaffar, and Canas will round out your group. You'll head north. There's archers, swordsmen, and wyverns up there."

"Got it," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking a few steps north to wait.

He smiled involuntarily. "Hector, you'll take Oswin, Matthew, Serra, and also Pent, Louise, Erk, Karel and Guy, Raven, Lucius, Vaida, Dart, Geitz, and Merlinus will go with you. You'll head east. There's heavy infantry, axemen, and more wyverns on that side."

"Aww, why do I gotta take Merlinus?" Hector grumbled.

"Do you think he's a liability?" Ceniro asked calmly.

Hector hung his head. "Nah, he's fine. I was just hoping to, you know, cut loose without having to worry about the luggage as well. I'm just being a brat. I'm fine."

"Good to hear," Ceniro said cheerfully. "Eliwood."

"Here."

"You'll be leading the knights of House Pherae, as well as Rebecca, Lowen, and me, and also Priscilla, Hawkeye, Legault, Heath, Karla, and Bartre. We're going up the middle valley, directly northeast to the Dragon's Gate. Ahead of us are light cavalry, archers, and a lot of magic."

"Where did Nergal get wyverns?" Vaida demanded. "Has he stolen them from Bern?"

"I have no idea," Ceniro answered. "But I'm sure it's been part of his long-term planning. Perhaps he stole them from mercenaries?"

"It's an insult to the pride of Bern, is what it is," Vaida snorted.

"You're telling me!" Farina cried. "What about those pegasus riders over those hills!? No noble beast of Ilia should have to bear a morph! How did he enslave them so?"

"Questions you will have to ask him in person," Eliwood said firmly. "Let's move!"

"Come on, everyone!" Lyn cried to her group. "Do what you do best, and we'll arrive in one piece!"

"No pressure or anything," said Hector. "See you at the end!"

.

Despite the worry Ceniro had about a super-powered sage waiting for them – to say nothing of Nergal himself – the first part of the battle was quite smooth. Perhaps it was because he couldn't see the other two groups, but even the ballistae didn't worry him all that much. They kept to the trees as much as they could, until he could send someone to take out the ballistae at an angle the morphs couldn't target.

The Pheraean cavalry, now including Harken, met the morph cavalry head-on, and though he heard cries of injury, the morphs disappeared. He sent Priscilla to heal them with Karla and Bartre as escort. Was he being too clinical? He felt he lacked sufficient concern for his friends and allies.

Or maybe he had no room for that kind of thinking. Any slip-up now could be fatal to someone. He made it look easy, but… against opponents of this caliber, it truly wasn't. Even if his friends were injured, he'd get them all through alive – so if Sain taking a possible lance in the leg meant that Kent would avoid getting flanked and shot in the back, he would take it. His brows lowered in determination. He had to concentrate. He owed them no less. Though of course, fewer injuries were better.

He should probably stop introspecting and send Vaida to pull some of the axemen facing Hector's group into a trap with Guy, Karel, Raven, and Louise at the end of it.

Heath was finally in a position to take down the main ballista aiming down the central valley, and Ceniro gave him the order. Now, they could move ahead much quicker. He gave the order, and the knights galloped across the open space of the valley to clash with more mounted morphs. There was a splintering of lances on shields and a ring of swords on swords. Then Hawkeye barrelled into them from the flank, his giant axe dealing catastrophic damage. Ceniro sent Legault to cut him an escape route before the Nabatan was surrounded and severely wounded. On the other side of the valley, Priscilla called down thunder on a lone lost morph, whose crispy charge towards her was halted by Rebecca's arrow.

And that was only Eliwood's group.

He would have liked to be with Lyn again, like old times, to see her fly with her sword like a green dart at her enemies, and to see the rush of the pegasus wings as they swooped on their prey like great white eagles. But he wanted a central position, and this was the route that made sense for Eliwood's group, not Lyn's.

It was fine. He'd see her in action again as they came around the hills.

There was a lull, and Ceniro took the opportunity to pull his head out of the farseer and breathe for a minute. Eliwood was circling around to him, having just finished off a morph light-magic user. Ceniro nodded encouragingly at him and got a strong smile in return.

Suddenly, he felt like someone or something punched him in the chest. Curious, he looked down, and saw about a foot and a half of arrow protruding from his chest, just under the breastplate Hector had once given him.

He blinked at it. There was no pain, only a pressure, and… he couldn't breathe, and all he saw was clouded sky, and Eliwood's shocked face hovering over him, and he was so close, he was so close to the end, and he couldn't breathe, HE COULDN'T BREATHE-

.

.

.

"Priscilla!" Eliwood's frantic scream echoed through the valley. His tactician lay unmoving, eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky. He couldn't lose him now, not one of his closest friends. Ceniro had said this battle would be the greatest challenge he had faced, and it seemed like his orders were more direct than ever, his tactics tighter. Could they even win without him? And the next battle, which was sure to be even greater?

Even more than that, could he himself continue as he lost another person dear to him?

It seemed an eternity he contemplated that dreadful thought, before Priscilla came, hastened on her way by Heath and Nils.

She looked at the body and tears welled up in her eyes. "I… I can't… I can't help him, Lord Eliwood. He's… It's…"

"I know," Eliwood said quietly. "I knew it when I saw him fall. I… What do I do now?"

Priscilla couldn't answer him; she was crying. Rebecca and Lowen were rushing over; Isadora, Harken, too.

Eliwood gradually became aware that he could hear people, people he shouldn't have been able to hear. His gaze slowly turned towards the farseer, fallen into the grass beside Ceniro.

"Ceniro?" "Ceniro, you there?" "Everything okay over there?" "Sir Ceniro, we need your orders."

Eliwood took a deep breath and picked it up. "Everyone…" The entire group fell silent hearing his voice. "Ceniro is dead." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"No!" Lyndis cried, her voice cracking. "He- he can't be!"

"It's true," Eliwood said numbly. "An archer…" The archer was probably still around. Eliwood jumped to his feet and drew his sword again, in time see an archer step from behind a tree and target Priscilla. With a cry of anger, he charged the archer on foot.

The archer's arrows whizzed by his shoulder, and one of them struck him in the arm. But he kept going. It was all he could do in this moment. The morph showed no fear at his approach, no reaction when Eliwood reached him and stabbed him through the gut, only turning to dust as they all did.

He turned back to Priscilla, his arm hanging limp. "Priscilla. We still need you."

She looked up, sniffling, and attempted to dry her tears as she picked up her staff to heal him. "Yes… Yes. We will keep fighting, won't we?"

"We can't do anything else!" Eliwood's head came up, and he looked towards the northeast with fire in his eyes. He grabbed the farseer again. He had to keep the army together before they all became disorganized and demoralized and possibly killed. "Everyone! We can't give up now. Ceniro's trained us well, and we've learned much from him. We have to keep going, to defeat Limstella, and then Nergal!" He pointed at Rebecca, Isadora, Lowen, and Harken, and they saluted and hurried off as Eliwood swung himself back into his saddle.

"Right on!" Hector said. "He got us this far, and we'll take him the rest of the way with us! Now go rip apart every morph you see!"

"I… I still don't believe it…" Lyndis said. "How can… He was… I am going to tear the Dragon's Gate stone from stone! I-it won't bring him back. But how-! How!" Everything else she said was only screaming, and the farseer automatically made her voice quieter so he could hear the others clearly still.

"Lord Eliwood," Priscilla spoke up, still struggling with her tears. "I'll… I'll take him with us, if I may."

"You may," Eliwood said. "As long as you can keep up your healing at the same time. I can always have Lowen take him."

"Yes, sir. I can do it."

"I might not be even in Ceniro's sphere… but I'll do my best to both fight and lead," Eliwood said, grabbing his lance. "Hector, Lyndis, let's split the command. I don't think I can… you know. Manage everything."

"Got it," Hector said. "I've got things over here. Just… are we about ready to turn north yet?"

Eliwood glanced at the mysterious farseer. "Uh… yes? I think so. Why not have Vaida spot for you?"

"You think that dame will listen to anything I say?"

"She'll have to now," Eliwood said. "I'm officially putting you in charge."

"Ugh," said Vaida. "Now we're not only being led by a child, but a child with no tactical experience."

"We have lots of experience!" Hector objected. "We just used to leave the decisions up to Ceniro. Now get up there and get us oriented towards the Dragon's Gate!"

"I'm here," Lyndis said, her voice hoarse and grating. "I don't think I'm fit to command."

"You are, Lady Lyndis," Kent said earnestly. "We're here to assist you."

"We have… a bit of a situation?" Fiora's voice came through. "There's a man here, a bishop. He is offering to join us because… we're being too noisy and disturbing him with our fighting?"

Lyndis cleared her throat. "We can use everyone. He doesn't look like a morph, does he?"

"I think he is sincere," Fiora answered. "He looks nothing like a morph."

"Then yes, he can join. Now… just try and keep up with me!" Lyndis's figure launched into action, sprinting across the landscape. Morphs fell before her sword like grain before a scythe, and none of them could touch her. "Kent, Sain, Wallace, Dorcas, I saw archers on the right. Florina! You said there were some magic users to the north, right? Take the new guy, Nino, Canas, and Jaffar and elimate them. I'll take care of these wyverns. Wil, Rath, follow me."

"You're doing great, Lyndis," Eliwood said. "I see a druid up ahead. We should attack him with someone fast and agile, right? Karla, Legault, can you stop the druid from attacking Marcus and the rest of the cavalry as we head to deal with this group of axemen?"

He spurred Oren and the great white horse leapt forward, ever closer to the Dragon's Gate.

He was nervous. Not for his group, so much, but he had the farseer. The other didn't, and they were working relatively blind. He thought back to what Ceniro had sometimes said about the magical tool being a crutch, and wondered if there was a way he could help while still paying enough attention to his own fighting.

"Hector, we may have a problem," Pent said, his voice scratchy and distorted. "Our magic just stopped working. I believe it is the magic seal again."

"Ohhhhh shit," Hector said. Eliwood could barely hear him. "Well, you guys … north. All you magic users, … swordmasters, and you two pirates, head north and try … from his influence. The … you, follow me! We're … destroy this thing … and for …"

"… not a pirate," Geitz mumbled.

"Good luck, Hector," Eliwood said, leaning down to stab a morph but only succeeding in meeting its axe. Hector didn't answer. He probably couldn't hear him.

Once he had killed it, he looked at the farseer, worried that it might be broken again like the last time they had encountered the magic seal, but it was still clearly showing the landscape and the dozens of tiny figures scattered across it – though, now he noticed that Hector's group was not showing up, nor were any of the enemy towards the southeast. As he watched, a small group of figures began to appear, led by Lord Pent, heading north towards him.

"We should send a few of ours south to help him," Eliwood said to no one in particular. "Hawkeye, Isadora, Harken, and Heath, go south and find Hector. Help him destroy that magic seal! I won't be able to help you or even speak to you while you're inside its sphere of influence." He wondered what coincidence meant that he had mentioned everyone in the group whose name began with an H in the same sentence.

"Understood," Isadora said crisply, and turned to lead the reinforcements south.

"Lyndis, we have to take care of the rest of the morphs by the time he finishes."

"Way ahead of you," she answered grimly. Yes, it seemed that she personally was closer to the Dragon's Gate than anyone in his group.

"Lady Lyn, be careful!" Nils said. "Limstella has bolting; it's how she targeted Lord Eliwood before."

"I'd like to see her hit me," Lyndis said. "However… Florina, you and your sisters watch out. You may be resistant to magic, but Pent said that Limstella's magic is greater than a normal person's."

"Yes, Lyn," Florina said. "Look out for the cavalry approaching from the north."

"Nino, Canas, help me out here."

"Hector's been gone a long time," Eliwood muttered to himself.

"Not to worry," Pent said, dodging archers and retaliating with Elfire. "I think they were in a good position when I left. Atch!" He stopped behind a tree, an arrow in his leg. Serra healed him, as Karel appeared out of nowhere and cut through the archers from the side, as Geitz drew their fire with his own arrows. Erk and Lucius kept their heads down, sending magical flak at the enemy when they could.

They were all playing it a bit more cautiously now.

They suddenly heard Hector give a triumphant cry, and Eliwood grabbed urgently for the farseer. All his group was still there, suddenly appearing in a cluster in a ruin to the south. The number of morphs left on the field was very few, and all ahead of them, around the main ruins.

"Well done, Hector," Eliwood said.

"You didn't doubt me, did you?" Hector asked.

"Not at all. Come on north. We're about done up here."

.

Limstella was waiting for them. Dressed in elegant black and white, she stood motionless in the entrance to the Dragon's Gate.

"You have come far," she said as Eliwood rode up, Lyndis and Hector beside him. "But it does not matter. I will take your life and your essence, all for the sake of my master. My master… and the one who already gave his life for him." She raised her hands, and an immense wind began to swirl around all of them. "Excalibur!"

At first it was only gusty, and the lighter members of the army clung to heavier ones – Priscilla to Heath, Rebecca to Lowen, Nino to Jaffar. "Lyn, get behind me," Hector said, and Lyndis did so, shielding her face with her arm. The wind began to sting, picking up more and more in speed. Already it was unnaturally strong and sharp, and show no signs of slacking – nor did Limstella's arms drop. Leaves and small stones were whipping at them, and soon the very stones were groaning.

"We didn't come all this way just to get blown away by some wind!" Lyndis cried, planting her sword in the ground and clinging to it. "What did Ceniro say about her?"

"We need all the magic users!" Pent said, inching his way over to Eliwood. "Canas, Erk, Nino! Priscilla, Lucius, Serra, and you, sir, Renault! We'll fight her together!"

"Don't forget us!" Fiora cried, the pegasi buffeted terribly by the wind, yet still soaring more easily than the wyverns. There was no way Heath's Hyperion was taking off here, and Vaida had been forced out and away from the rest of the group. "You give us an opening, and we'll take her down!"

"I'm not sure we can, but understood!" Pent shouted over the wind. "Help me!" He began casting something, and the others seemed to have some sort of plan, as they began joining in.

Eliwood hoped they'd be done in time. In the meantime, he clambered off Oren, who was bracing his legs and neighing unhappily, and began forcing his way forward on foot. Hector and Lyndis were right behind him, but soon Hector was in front, since his heavier armour and sturdier frame gave him better support.

Hector reached out to either side and took their hands, and together, step by step, they pressed on through the storm.

The magic users were building some kind of magical shield for most of the group. It was a mismatched barrier of light, dark, and ice. Eliwood worried about the ice, but if Pent was building it, it would hold without splintering as long as he had magic in him. At least, he guessed so – he knew almost nothing about magic.

Lyndis gave a cry and almost let go, blood running down her leg – something had hit her. Hector gripped their hands tighter. The very wind was beginning to cut, and Eliwood and Hector's cloaks were beginning to shred.

Hector gave a roar and hauled Eliwood and Lyndis to the edge of the storm, where they took cover behind a pillar hastily. Lyndis felt her waist for a vulnerary on her belt.

The storm heightened to a shriek, pummeling the outside of the barrier. Eliwood watched in fear – anyone not inside the barrier would be killed in moments.

When someone tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped and almost cried out.

Matthew was there. "My lords…" He held out the bomb Ceniro had held until they left Ostia. "Now might be a good time to use this."

"Great thinking, Matthew!" Hector said. "Lyn, you're probably the best shot of all of us. Think you can get it under her feet somehow?"

"Leave it to me," Lyndis said, her blue eyes hard and full of resolution. She took it, turned the dial on the bottom until it clicked, then peered out from behind the pillar at Limstella.

Limstella was beginning to add other elements into her storm, lightning, ice, and fire. "That's not possible," Hector said. "Is it?"

Lyndis braced herself, then sprinted from behind cover.

Limstella's head whipped around towards her, but Lyndis was already moving too fast.

Limstella's hand began to move.

Lyndis dropped the bomb by Limstella's foot and pressed it.

Both Lyndis and Limstella went flying, a fiery blast erupting from the small disc.

Both women twisted gracefully and landed in a ready crouch, facing each other. Their clothes were torn and charred. Lyndis's hand was burned, but it was already on her sword. Flame flickered around Limstella's hands. But her storm had ceased entirely, and Eliwood couldn't see any casualties.

"Here!" Fiora cried from the sky, and everyone looked up. The three pegasus knights darted in from three different directions, three shining lances cleaving the air towards Limstella.

Fiora – Florina – Farina – the three knights hit one after another in quick succession, each deeply wounding their target.

Limstella staggered, the magic disappearing from her hands. But she lifted her head and looked at them. "I am not human. This body and this heart are constructs. Yes… as is this sorrow."

She wavered and fell sideways, but her body was dust before it reached the ground.

.

Author's note: Yep, I killed the tactician. If this upsets you, stay tuned for an AU sequel. ;) But first we gotta finish this story.


	11. Chapter 11: Light

Chapter 11: Light

.

"Who was she talking about?" Lyndis asked, favouring her hand until Erk hurried up to heal it for her. "When she said something about the one who already gave his life for Nergal?"

"I have no idea," Eliwood said. "Maybe a fellow morph? Or one of the Black Fang? I thought morphs didn't have feelings. But Sonia did… Or seemed to, at any rate. But Limstella never thought she was human like Sonia did."

"I know who she was talking about," Nils said, approaching. "Ephidel."

Lyndis recoiled. "That creepy guy?"

"Limstella was the most advanced morph, but Nergal didn't give her emotions. Still, it seems like while they were here at the Dragon's Gate – at least while we were here – she was with Ephidel as much as possible. And he didn't seem to avoid her." Nils considered. "I guess even abominations can have feelings."

"Well, they're together now," Hector said. "He blew up when that first dragon blew up."

"And now Limstella was blown up by Lyndis's amazing work, and the pegasus knights' spectacular attack," Eliwood said.

Hector moved to Lyndis's side and began checking her over. She pushed him away. "Stop that. What are you doing? I'm fine. Erk healed me."

"Well…" Hector said seriously, "I feel like I should, since… Ceniro's not here to do it."

"Ceniro…" She turned to the group, recuperating from their ordeal under Excalibur the wind spell. Ceniro's body was still draped over Priscilla's horse. "I haven't seen him yet."

"Me either."

Together they headed over, Eliwood following. Hector lifted the tactician's limp body from the horse and laid him on the grass nearby. Lyndis flung her arms around Ceniro's neck and laid her head on his bloodied chest.

Pent and Louise drew near, as did Kent and Sain, Wil and Florina and Fiora, Matthew and Erk and Dorcas, and those who had been especially close to him before. They stood silently in a ring, offering silent sympathy to Lyndis, Eliwood, and Hector.

"He shouldn't…" Hector began.

Eliwood knew what he meant. The body was too still, too pale. It brought back to him all too forcefully memories of his father, on this very island, and Ninian, still fresh and painful in his mind.

He had caused plenty of death since setting out on this journey some months ago. He'd seen even more death. All he wanted was peace, but it seemed peace was a tenuous, intangible state, and pursuit of it had only caused death close to him.

But… He bowed his head and closed his eyes. If he had not sought peace, if he had not gone after his father and learned what he did, there would now be certain death not just of those dear to him but everyone. And that he couldn't allow.

It was still hard to see his friend, dead. Slow tears trickled down his cheeks.

Lyndis's shoulders were shaking. He could imagine what she was going through, though she was different than him – more tempestuous, less patient.

"I'm sorry," Nils said from behind him. "He was always kind to us. He looked out for us… He helped make Ninian happy…"

Lyndis finally raised her head. "He kept us alive, destroyed our enemies, and made many of us happy. Especially me. And so I am going to remove Nergal's head from his body."

"That's far too merciful," Hector said.

"As long as he ceases to live, I don't care how it is done," Lyndis said, wiping her eyes. "It's… it's not fair that he should live and Ceniro-!"

Hector put a hand on her shoulder. "I know."

"I can't have my revenge on the Talliver. But I can have my revenge on Nergal." Lyndis stood, her hand on her sword. "Eliwood. Are you ready?"

Eliwood started, wiping his own eyes. "N-no, I'm not. Athos isn't here yet."

"Greybeard's late," Hector said. "I'm about ready to head in without him, too."

"Wait a moment," Nils said. "I… I should tell you, before you go in, our side of the story. I know you heard Lord Athos's side of the story. But Ninian and I… you should know, too."

"All right," Eliwood said. It would give him time to prepare, as well.

Nils took a deep breath and closed his eyes, organizing his thoughts. The others sat down around him. Lyndis pulled Ceniro's body so it rested with its head in her lap. Eliwood directed the knights to keep watch while the others mended their injuries and rested.

Nils opened his eyes and began. "A thousand years ago, humans chased dragonkind from the land, exiled us. We had no place to go… not on this world. So we used the Dragon's Gate to flee into another world. When we passed through this chasm in space and time, many of us were lost. Still, we endured the journey. We found humans there, too, but they were few in number. We had a few skirmishes, but at last, we found a home. We were stable there, happy, even."

"So…" Hector interrupted.

"Some thought back on our former home, and when we did, his voice reached out to us. You see, Ninian was a medium in the other world, an oracle of sorts. She sat at the Dragon Shrine, and she held much power."

"Was it just the two of you?" Lyndis asked.

"Yes," Nils said. "We were orphans, but with Ninian's power, it didn't matter. Anyway, we were in prayer at the shrine when it happened… We heard a voice calling to us from the Dragon's Gate. It was the voice of an old friend… We knew we weren't supposed to open the gate and return to this world. We had no idea that the owner of that voice was Nergal… But something unexpected happened. When we opened the Dragon's Gate and traveled here again, we had lost almost all of our strength… The quintessence left within us was less even than that of an average human. In order to sustain ourselves, in order to breathe the air of this world, we took human form. We placed our energies within a dragonstone. But our dragonstone was taken… stolen. Nergal hoped to use it as a tool to summon other dragons… until we escaped. We couldn't let our foolishness condemn our friends back home. Disguised as a dancer and a bard, we fled and wandered from country to country. That's when we first met Lady Lyn, one year ago. "

Lyndis started. "Oh! Of course you were! That whole time… Nergal was after you. And those black-robed men… But why didn't you tell me?"

"You were so kind to us," Nils said quietly. "We didn't want any harm to come to you because of our problems."

"But…" said Lyndis.

"It's in the past now," Hector said. "We helped them eventually, right?"

Nils nodded. "After we left Lyn at Caelin, we were eventually captured again… We decided that the only way to escape was to cut short our own lives. But that was when we met Lord Elbert." Eliwood's eyes widened. "He was so strong, so kind… He knew what we were… and what we had done, and he never once condemned us. On the contrary, he tried to set us at ease with stories… Stories of his family, of his homeland.

Eliwood bowed his head. "Father…"

"Ninian and I… We listened to his stories, and we grew to love his gentle wife and his son. Premonition… No, that is too strong a word, but we felt his son would be the one to save us. That's what we felt. That's why…. That's why, Lord Eliwood!" Nils turned to him with a fervour, clutching his scarf tightly. "That's why… I believe in you. Even though Ninian's gone, I will continue to protect you. I have to. That… That's Ninian's wish. It's our wish."

"Nils…" Eliwood said, more tears coming into his eyes.

"You're the only one who can defeat Nergal," Nils said earnestly, his crimson eyes boring into Eliwood's blue ones. "I believe in you. We all believe in you."

"We do!" Hector said. "We can do this, Eliwood!"

"That's right!" Lyndis agreed. "Ceniro got us this far. It would be a poor tribute to him to give this less than our all!"

"Everyone…" Eliwood said, and stood. He had to run his sleeve over his eyes again, but he felt like he could smile again. "You're right. There's no power on this earth that can overcome our combined strength! Let's go! The Dragon's Gate awaits!"

"Were you gonna wait for Greybeard?" Hector asked, standing as well.

"I'm here," Athos said, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"Were you successful?" Lyndis demanded.

"I was," Athos said. He inclined his head. "I am sorry to hear of the loss of your tactician. He was a good man, and the final battle will be all the more difficult without him."

"Thank you," Eliwood said.

"And now… Eliwood, take Durandal now. Hector, Armads."

Eliwood reached out to take the giant sword and Hector the giant axe, and the very touch of the weapon sent a jolt up his arm. "What… what is…"

"I managed to infuse them with holy magic that should rend Nergal's dark cloak, and allow us to harm him," Athos said. "Lyndis, this is for you."

Lyndis took the nodachi curiously. "What is this…?"

"This is the Sol Katti, the partner of the Mani Katti. It is not a legendary weapon, but its blade contains much power, and it has also been infused with holy magic."

"Thank you!" Lyndis said, sliding it into her belt beside the Mani Katti. Eliwood buckled on Durandal's harness, and Hector simply slung Armads over his shoulder.

"I myself have Forblaze and Aureola, the holy magic that Saint Elimine wielded." Athos turned to Nils. "Nils, is Nergal back there?"

Nils closed his eyes, concentrating. "Yes, he is. But… what could he be doing? There is immense power, but it feels… strange."

"He should have lost most of his henchmen in that last battle," Athos said. "Your plan worked well. But… I read energy, too, if only a little. Nils is right. The sense of it is different than before. Brace yourselves. He is formidable!"

"Then, let's choose who's going with us," Eliwood said, but was stopped by a tug at his cloak.

Rebecca stood there with serious eyes. "Aren't we all going?"

"No," Eliwood said. "I can't allow that."

"Why not?" Nino asked, popping up beside Rebecca. "We can help!"

"I'm not letting you go into danger!" Eliwood said.

"Is it because we're kids!?" and both girls' eyes flashed.

"I'm no stranger to fighting now, Lord Eliwood," said Rebecca, holding tight to her bow.

"It's not that," Eliwood said. "There's no guarantee that any of us will come out alive. I want you to be able to live. I can't ask you to throw away your lives in this place."

"You're not asking us, Lord Eliwood. We're asking you."

"I know… I don't want to be a burden on Jaffar," Nino said, looking down. "He's always watching out for me, keeping me from harm. But we can fight, Lord Eliwood, and we want to."

"With what?" Hector asked. "You've got a steel bow there, young lady – how are you expecting to so much as scratch Nergal? Or you might be a prodigy, but regular spells do nothing to him."

"I know," Rebecca said. "But we can at least be a distraction."

"Or maybe everyone will die at once," Hector said.

"Hector!" Lyndis reprimanded him.

He shrugged. "It's true. Nergal hasn't really shown us his magic. What if we walk straight into some dark magic spell that just blasts us instantly into oblivion? Doesn't matter how many of us there are then."

Guy stepped up. "Ceniro would take a chance on us."

"I'm not Ceniro," Eliwood said softly.

"Please," Erk said. "Let us fight. Like you said, he trained us well. There might be others than him in there that we can take down for you. We'll stay away from Nergal."

Eliwood stood silently, looking up into the ominous dark maw of the Dragon's Gate. "All right. But when I say, you will withdraw and leave the rest to us, understood?"

"Understood," chorused Rebecca and Nino, brightening up.

"But as for you…" Hector said, suddenly swinging around and looking at Merlinus.

The merchant blanched. "M-m-me?"

Hector smiled. "You're made of sterner stuff than I realized. I'd have thought you would have fled by now."

"Thank you for everything," Lyndis said. "You've been such a big help."

Merlinus's face fell, and he began to sniffle. "Oh… I thought as much. You're not taking me in with you…"

"What are we supposed to do?" Hector said. "Oh, that's disgusting. Cry if you must, but blow your nose! Anyway, you can't fight, and we'll be taking the weapons we need with us, so you don't need to stick around here."

"Here," Eliwood said, pulling an envelope from his pocket. "Take this and return to Fargus."

"W-what is it?" Merlinus asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve and taking the envelope.

"It's a letter of introduction. Take this to Ostia, and you'll be able to do good business there." He shrugged and grinned a little. "Of course, if we fail in our mission, it's just a worthless slip of paper."

"But…" Merlinus looked down at the envelope. "I must protest! For the rest of my days, I've vowed in my heart to continue serving you! Please, oh please! Do not abandon me!"

Eliwood rocked back on his heels, taken aback by the passionate plea of the merchant.

"Then get on that boat and pray for our safe return!" Hector barked.

"Have faith in us," Lyndis said. "Wait for us."

Merlinus sniffled some more. "I… I understand. Until the end of time, my lords and lady. I will wait for you until the end of time. Please… come back… safely… Please!"

"Yeah, okay. We're going. Bye." Hector turned and headed up to the Dragon's Gate, finished with the conversation.

Eliwood nodded at him in friendly fashion. "We'll be back. But don't stay here. It's probably not safe. Master Renault, if you could go with him part of the way to make sure it's safe…"

The bishop bowed. "I will do so."

.

Eliwood collected his horse and went to the top of the stairs. With the dark entrance behind him, he turned to face the army.

"Gonna make a speech?" Hector asked him.

"Of course," Eliwood murmured back, then cleared his throat. "Everyone! It's been a long, hard journey to get here. No matter where we came from, or why we joined this group, we have been united in a common goal – to defeat Nergal! To prevent him from destroying all life on Elibe and bringing back dragons to destroy them as well, we are committed to this path! As I look around at you all, I see not one person who wishes to turn back here. If you did, no one would think less of you. I thank you, my friends, for your loyalty and heart that have brought us here today."

He bowed his head slightly. "It's true that we have lost our tactician, and that our combined skill in strategy is no match for his. But we will continue on in his name, and fight for him! For Ceniro! For Ninian, and my father, and Leila of Ostia, and the good heart of the Black Fang, and all those dear to us we have lost on this perilous journey!"

"Now let us go and fight! We shall fight for the memory of our friends, and for hope for the future!" The army gave a scattered cheer. He mounted Oren and turned to enter the Dragon's Gate. Hector, Lyndis, and Athos were beside him.

"That's so typical of you," Hector said.

"Huh?"

"It really is," Lyndis said.

"I don't know what you mean," Eliwood said. "I just spoke from the heart…"

"There you go again!" Hector said.

"Hush," Lyndis warned them. "It's time for business. It was straight to the back up these long stairs, wasn't it, Eliwood?"

"Yes," Eliwood said. "It's a fairly large area up there. We should have room to manoeuvre, even if there isn't a lot of cover."

"We should probably pick the people who we're not sending away if things go sideways," Hector said. "Can I see that?"

Eliwood passed him the farseer.

"Let's take… Oswin, Marcus, Wallace, Isadora, Vaida, Harken, Karel, Pent and Louise, the pegasus sisters, Canas, and…"

"And?" Lyndis asked.

"I don't want to take Jaffar, but he's very useful."

"So take him," Lyndis said.

"I know, I know. My personal feelings don't matter. Much. Does that sound good to you guys?"

"Sounds good to me," Eliwood said. "It has fighters of all different kinds… we have flyers, we have an archer, we have fast swordsmen, we have anima and dark… hmm, we need a light magic user…"

"I can take care of light magic," Athos said. "Perhaps… I shall speak with Pent. I think he might be ready for Forblaze."

"Truly!?" Pent's voice echoed through the tunnel. "Thank you, master!"

"Are we finally ready?" Hector said.

"We better be," Lyndis said. "There's the top of the stairs. And Nergal's undoubtedly heard us coming."

"He could not but sense our approach," Athos assured her.

Eliwood was the first to the top of the stairs, but Lyndis was the first to speak. "I offer you no greeting. You're a dead man!"

Nergal turned to face them, his heavy black robes swirling around him. "You're too late! I am calling dragons through the gate. Soon I will claim their quintessence, and become like unto a god among mortals!"

"How many lives have you taken to achieve this!?" Eliwood cried. "How many innocents have you murdered or caused to be destroyed in your quest for power?"

"It doesn't matter," Nergal said. "How many lives have _you_ destroyed, you hypocrite!? You especially, Eliwood, but all of you, you have taken many lives since you set out on your little trip. You may pretend you regret it, but the end result is still the same, regardless of your intention."

"But," Eliwood began earnestly. "I did only what was necessary to stop you from hurting other people even more. Intentions _do_ matter! I don't go around hurting people for my own purposes! We all rely on each other, the greatest no less than the weakest!"

"I wonder if the greatest would agree. I think not. In any case, let me show you my greatest works since Limstella," Nergal said, and raised his arms.

Eliwood, Lyndis, Hector and the others flinched and braced themselves, but all that happened was eight teleports appeared and revealed eight morphs. Eliwood flinched again, seeing their faces.

Nergal smiled. "You are impressed? Or have you only seen a familiar face?"

"Marquess Laus!" cried Hector in disbelief.

"Lloyd and Linus?" Lyndis echoed.

"Father!" cried Nino in heartbreak.

The eight morphs were exact copies of Lord Darin and the seven strongest Black Fang members – Uhai, Ursula, Jerme, Kenneth, Lloyd, Linus, and Brendan Reed.

Nergal was still smiling, pleased at their horrified reaction. "I took the essences of strong people and improved them. See, with enough energy, I can work miracles! Wouldn't you like a new father, Eliwood? Or Hector, a replacement brother?"

"What- How did you-" Hector stammered.

"A heartless puppet might be good for your fragile little human soul," Nergal said, chuckling.

Hector lowered his head, glaring from under his brows. "You're the heartless puppet."

"And you are my greatest annoyance," Nergal snapped. "If it hadn't been for your participation, Eliwood would have been easy to dispose of. Why would you risk your life time and time again for something as tenuous as 'friendship'?"

"You really don't get it, do you?" Lyndis said. "How do you think we got here if it wasn't for friendship? We may not all get along unconditionally, but we couldn't have made it without trusting each other this much either!"

"You can't understand," Hector growled. "I don't expect you to understand. You've forgotten what it means to be human!"

"If you ever knew in the first place," Lyndis muttered.

"You are the ones who can't understand!" Nergal said, gesturing dramatically. "You say this is good, and this is evil, but all your pathetic morality has been made up to fit your pathetic lives! There is no such thing as good or evil. I am above your petty beliefs. I pursue the only true goal worthy of pursuing!"

"Which is?" Lyndis demanded.

"Power. It is the only thing of use in this world. That's why I took these people and made them more powerful! I intend to do similar things with myself!"

"Nergal," said Athos. "You still have not stopped to reconsider your ideas since we fought…"

"You, of all people, I thought might understand," Nergal hissed, clenching a fist in front of him. "All living things take energy from somewhere and change it to suit their needs. Plants take it from the sun and soil. Animals take it from plants and other animals. Humans take it from plants and animals. Is not the logical next step to discard these earthly things and work with pure energy itself? The knowledge of Arcadia has shown us the road to the ultimate transformation. And yet you will not take that road!"

"I am not against the quest for knowledge," Athos said. "Nor even against the quest for power. But that quest must be driven from within. To fuel your quest with the stolen lives of others, this brings not wisdom but abomination."

Nergal cackled in bitter glee. "I remember! I still remember! Those words are unchanged from when you first said them ages back. When you and the dragons conspired to _bury me!_ "

With those words, he whipped off the black lopsided turban he had been wearing since they had met him, revealing a horrific scar on the left side of his face. His left eye was swollen and the pupil rolled lazily. Lyndis covered her mouth in horror.

"Look at this wound!" Nergal roared. "The wound I took from your magic! It was a mistake. The only person who understood… The man I thought my truest friend… It was a mistake to try and destroy me." He laughed again. "It confirmed some things for me. That trust brings betrayal. That friends bring weakness!"

Eliwood could restrain himself no longer. "If that is what you learned from your encounter, then you are a fool. Do you believe for a moment that, when Athos struck down his closest friend, he felt nothing!? His heart bled for you, and yet you refuse to understand that!" Athos looked at the young man in amazement.

Hector took a heavy step forward. "What happened in the past, what reasons drive you… None of these matter! I don't care what you think or what you did; your actions are unforgivable! I have no pity whatsoever for a creature as pathetic as you! That's why… that's why I'm going to stop you here today!"

"I'm with Hector," Lyndis said. "You've taken many from us who were dear to us, good people, including some of the people standing here with you because of your foul magic! It's thanks to you that Eliwood's father died… that Ninian died… that the man I love died! You had better pray that Hector's axe finds you before my sword does!"

"And what do your opinions matter, little girl from Sacae!?"

Lyndis tossed her dark green hair and held her head high. "The nomads of the plains do not abandon their fellow tribespeople. Even if I had lost nothing on this journey… Eliwood and Hector are my dear friends. Their sorrow is my sorrow. Their anger is my anger!"

"And yet…" Eliwood said, "even now, there is no hatred in my heart. You who were born human, you who lost the heart that defines your humanity… For you, I have nothing _but_ pity."

"Pity?" Nergal snorted, as if the word were from a foreign language. "Amusing. A weak fool like you has 'pity' for me? Interesting… Now, if you hope to defeat me, you may have your chance. Of course, you will have to best my morphs first!" He snapped his fingers, and the morphs closed ranks in front of him as he turned to walk to the back of the hall by the Dragon's Gate.

Hector jumped to stand in front of Eliwood. "Listen to me! This is my fight now! Everyone, stay back!"

"What are you talking about?" Lyndis said. "This is my fight! Don't be stupid!"

"This fight is mine alone!" said Eliwood. "You're the ones who should stay back; protect the others!"

Pent stepped forward. "I thought you settled this before. We are all fighting together, are we not? We've come this far. Don't forget that!"

"Don't forget me!" Nils cried. "And… Ninian. I'm sure she's here as well. And Ceniro."

"Ceniro wouldn't miss out on this," Lyndis said. "Certainly."

"Thank you, everyone," Eliwood said. "Now… let's go! We have to get past these morphs and destroy Nergal!"

"Ready on your orders," Marcus said.

"Be careful!" Eliwood said to the army. "Watch each other and stay safe! This will be difficult, but I can't direct you. I'm not Ceniro, and I'm going to be fighting alongside you like I always have. Pick your targets carefully!"

Pent raised a hand. "Any particular priorities?"

"The two magic users could rip us apart, but so could the Reed brothers. And the swordsman. And Brendan Reed."

"Don't forget Marquess Laus, he was no walk in the park when he was alive, and supposedly he's stronger now," Hector said.

"If I may suggest," Pent said, "take out the magic users first. Surely you can hold off the others long enough to do that."

"All right!" Eliwood said. "Does everyone have their target? Then charge!"

With various warcries, or grim silence, they ran towards the line of morphs, who wasted no time in charging back.

"Magic users stay back!" Oswin shouted. "Let us be your shield!" He blocked a mighty blow from Darin's lance and attacked back, but the blow harmlessly bounced off Darin's armour.

Nino ignored him, darting through the melee until she came to face Brendan Reed. "Father…"

The hulking shape of Brendan glared down at her, completely unresponsive. He raised his axe over his head.

"Father…! I'll put an end to this! I'm sorry-!" Nino's garments began to flutter as magic power gathered around her. But she was going to be too slow to cast…

She squeaked as an arm yanked her away, and Jaffar jumped in front of her, but the great axe was blocked instead by Dorcas's own. The arm belonged to Legault. "Oh, it sucks to see the Commander like this… Don't worry, little Nino, we're with you."

"Thanks, Uncle Legault…" she gasped.

Eliwood himself was cantering around the flank of the line to try to get to one of the magic users; the bishop was closest, but he found himself blocked by Linus. Linus's wild swings were even more vicious than they had been in life, and Raven, who was fighting him again, was on the defensive and already bleeding from several wounds. Lucius was supporting him with both magic and healing.

Their numbers were probably working against them, Eliwood thought, since Pent wouldn't be able to use Forblaze under these circumstances. Or Athos use Aureola.

"Lord Eliwood!" Lowen cried, drawing up beside him, guarding him from Lloyd, the next one on their left. Marcus was close behind, and even as they fought, several arrows came their way from Rebecca and Louise. One of them struck Lloyd in the shoulder, but he broke it off and continued; the others missed.

There was a crash nearby, and Lowen jumped, almost losing an arm to Lloyd's sword. Eliwood looked around to see Heath's Hyperion scrabbling on the floor, a massive bloody hole in his wing. It was clearly caused by Uhai, who was coolly fitting another arrow to his bow. But he was interrupted by Kent charging him with his lance, blocking the lance by knocking it aside with his bow just enough that Kent missed. Uhai drew his sword, in time to block against Fiora's attack as well. But Heath was getting his wyvern under cover back down the stairs, and that was even more important. Priscilla was with him.

Eliwood finally got around the edge of the battle and had a clear shot at that bishop. "Lowen!"

"Sir!"

Eliwood charged first, his lance clamped tight under his arm. The bishop turned from trying to hit Rath, barely in time to dodge Eliwood's attack, though it tore the sleeve of his robes.

Lowen's attack was more accurate, striking the bishop in the leg, and though Eliwood doubted that the morphs felt pain, the injury caused the bishop to sag to one side. Rebecca's next shot might have missed, or been only a body shot, but by luck it turned into a perfect head-shot, and the bishop burst into dust.

There was a final explosion of light magic from the bishop, and Lowen was sent flying.

"Lowen!" Eliwood shouted, galloping to him. Lowen was unconsious, his armour had been shredded, and his upper right torso burned as if with bad sunburn, and Eliwood didn't know what kind of internal damage there was, and he'd probably taken a concussion inside his helmet, but he was still breathing. "Lowen, hang on!" He hauled his knight up and onto his own horse, galloping back to try to make it around the melee. He was met by Athos, who lifted the knight from the horse with surprising strength and healed him.

"Thank you," Eliwood panted, and helped him set Lowen down near the stairs, away from the conflict. Heath was nearby with his sword drawn, and he came to stand guard over him.

"I'll take care of him, my lord," he said. "I… don't feel confident fighting without Hyperion."

"Thanks," Eliwood said again, and mounted Oren, returning to the field. "One down!"

"Two!" Lyndis called. "We got Uhai!"

That was a relief. Only the Valkyrie magic user to go, and then the morphs would have no more ranged answers to their magic and arrows.

Matthew staggered out near him, blood trickling from under his hairline. "I'm… so tired… milord… Just a scratch… need a breather…" He collapsed, and Serra ran after him and caught him.

"Matthew! Don't do this to me, you jerk!"

"Hey!" yelled Bartre. "Look out, you two!"

Eliwood was looking around for the danger, when thunder cracked deafeningly, and anima lightning struck Bartre, Serra, and Matthew all three.

"Need a healer!" Eliwood shouted. "Also someone take out that Valkyrie _right now!_ "

"Ugh, I'm on it," Vaida snapped, her Umbriel shooting past him.

Wallace was hot on her heels. "No, I am!"

"Bite me!" Vaida called to him. "Oh wait, you have to catch me first! …Umbriel!"

Thunder burst again, but Vaida dodged it. Down in the melee, Erk was waiting for it, caught it, and dissipated it. Lucius was pulling back, trying to get to Bartre and Serra and Matthew, but Raven was still fighting Linus – though not for much longer, it looked like – and still needed his support.

Wallace was having a hard time getting through to the Valkyrie. "Excuse me! Knight of Caelin, coming through! Lord Darin, would you move your metal carcass!"

There was another burst of thunder, and Umbriel was caught in it, but Vaida leapt from the saddle at exactly the right moment, her lance pointed downwards, and then there was no more thunder. They heard her voice. "Someone get some healing magic on my fart-monster!"

"Does she mean her wyvern!?" Eliwood murmured.

"Yes, I think so," Lyndis said, appearing beside him. "How are you?"

"Where can I help?"

"You can take my place against Lloyd. He's a pain in the neck, and I need to catch my breath."

"On it," Eliwood said, setting his lance in place again.

"Oswin!" Hector yelled before Eliwood was halfway to Lloyd's flashing blade, and he looked to see Hector defending Oswin against Darin. Oswin's armour was all chopped up on the right side, and he was holding his arm, which was bleeding profusely, as he limped away. To Eliwood's other side, Harken was helping Raven stumble off the field, the red-headed swordsman clearly on the verge of collapse.

They were losing allies left and right, but so far, none of them were dead – although he had worries about Matthew and Bartre. It was also probably not good that they would have to pull back magic users for healing… but…

They were still going to win this.

Eliwood charged at Lloyd, Oren's hooves clattering on the stone floor. The swordmaster glanced at him expressionlessly and dodged out of the way as if Eliwood were standing still. Eliwood inhaled in pain; a thin red line had appeared across his side. But it wasn't deep; he wouldn't trouble the healers yet.

There was a cry on his left, and a snarl on his right, and Karel slipped beneath his horse like water to attack the other swordsman morph, who was standing over Guy. Isadora was attempting to defend the youth, but the swordsman was too quick for her.

And Karel was as quick as he was.

Eliwood ignored the duel as best he could. Lloyd was equally dangerous, if not more so, and Marcus was getting overwhelmed despite Eliwood lending his lance to the fray. They needed someone fast, fast enough to hold him off. If Lyndis had needed a breather against this man… that was not a good sign.

"On me!" there was a cry from above, and Fiora and Florina swooped in. Lloyd blocked Fiora's lance, dodged Florina's, and scored a hit on Fiora's pegasus' flank. Where was Farina? She was helping Dart retreat, the young pirate covered in blood from Darin's lance.

"Here!" cried another voice from Eliwood's right, and Kent was forming up on him. He had drawn his sword.

"Why your sword?" Eliwood called breathlessly.

"More dexterity than a lance," Kent responded shortly. That was true, Eliwood considered. A lance would easier keep Lloyd at bay, but a sword might have a better chance to hit him.

Lloyd dodged them again, Marcus, Eliwood, and Kent, and as Fiora and Florina swung around to attack again, he struck Fiora's pegasus in the wing.

Florina's lance finally wounded him, in the leg, but Fiora crashed heavily to the ground. Her pegasus screamed. So did her sister.

"Fiora!" Kent cried, riding swiftly to her.

She pulled herself to her feet. "I'm all right. I need to get Cary to safety. Florina! Stay back!"

"I'll cover you," Kent said, dismounting with his sword still in hand.

"Thank you," Fiora said. "I can still fight, too." And she drew her own sword.

"This man is too fast for either of us," Kent said. "If he attacks us again, you need to run."

"I'm not leaving either you or Cary!"

"Fiora-!"

"Ah! Here he comes!"

"I'm here!" Eliwood said, trying to maneouvre between Lloyd and the others. But… he wasn't fast enough to fight an over-powered Lloyd either. The swordmaster seemed to blur in his speed, and the next that Eliwood knew, Lloyd had stabbed clear through both Kent and Fiora at once.

"Kent! Fiora!" Lyndis shouted, and as Lloyd withdrew his blade, she was on him like a wolf.

"I don't think we're going to beat this guy in hand-to-hand," Eliwood said. Of their other fastest fighters, Karel was still fighting the random swordsman, and Jaffar was facing Brendan. "Pent! Athos!" Who else was still fighting that could use magic? "Get all the magic users together! We need to take out Lloyd!"

"Archers too?" Louise asked.

"Can't hurt," Eliwood said. "He's faster than before. Keep your distance!"

"Elfire it is, then!" Pent said.

"Lyndis, get Kent and Fiora away from there! I'll help you!" Eliwood rode quickly to the fallen pair and hauled Kent onto his horse. Lyndis was still fighting Lloyd, but Marcus and Florina helped with Fiora and her pegasus.

Eliwood heard another snarl of triumph from somewhere on the left of the hall, and saw that Karel had finally bested the enemy swordsman.

There was a shout of "Hold him still!" and as Geitz grappled with Linus, Sain and Wil attacked. Legault appeared seemingly out of nowhere from behind Linus and his blade flashed.

Linus jerked, and Legault was sent flying, blood spurting from his side, but Linus's morph exploded into dust, his throat cut.

Only three left. Lloyd, Darin, and Brendan.

"On my mark!" Pent cried. "Lyn, you'll want to move!"

"Can't!" Lyndis said. "If I do, he'll attack someone else! I can dodge in time."

"I'm going to use Forblaze, I don't think you can!"

"I'll chance it."

"Lyn!" cried Florina. "Let me help you!"

"That'll work," Pent said. "Everyone set? All right. …Now!"

Eliwood had to cover his eyes. There was a massive explosion, and above it, Florina winging away, Lyndis clinging to her arm.

When the last sparks of fire and thunder and lightning had faded, there was no trace of Lloyd.

Two more.

"Hector?"

"Yeah, I could use some help with this guy."

"Why aren't you using Armads?" Eliwood demanded, riding up to his friend.

"I'm saving it for Nergal!"

Lyndis appeared on his other side, the Sol Katti in her hand. "Go ahead and use it, what are you waiting for!?"

"Fine," Hector growled, and drew it. "Stay back, then! Don't want you caught in the crossfire!"

"As if you could touch me," Lyndis sniffed. "We'll take him together."

"Fine. Eliwood, keep the others back. There's too many people here."

"What am I, traffic control?" Eliwood said, smiling finally.

Hector only grunted as he raced back into battle against Darin. The huge axe glowed white as it slashed down on Darin's lance, shattering it completely.

From there it was no contest.

And the only morph left was… Brendan Reed, who was currently sporting several icicles from Nino's efforts.

"Form up!" Hector bellowed, gesturing to the remnants of the group. "Cavalry in front, mages in the back! Archers around the sides! Let's get 'im!"

"Don't be so cocky, Hector!" Lyndis cried, running after him.

"Wait for me-!" Eliwood said, spurring Oren. "You keep leaving me out of the interesting fights!"

"Hurry up, then! You're on a horse, you should be faster than us anyway!"

"Do you think anyone could keep up with Lyndis when she's angry!?"

"Damn straight," Lyndis said, and bared her teeth in a warrior's smile.

"Please," Eliwood heard Nino's voice. "Put my father out of his misery…"

He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "Working on it."

Even Brendan Reed as an overpowered morph couldn't stand against their united front.

.

Nergal showed no signs of coming to check on them, so Eliwood directed the remnants of the group to take a rest and check on the wounded. He himself rode to where Hector stood, catching his breath on his own. He dismounted. There was something very important that had been put aside before, but it was time now. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"Hector… You're not still mad at Oswin, are you?"

"I… can't forgive him for keeping it from me. Even if it was my brother's orders."

"But… you do know that it was their way of caring about you, right?"

Hector made an angry gesture with his arm. "Screw that! I deserved to know…"

"While that may be true, don't hold it against Oswin. He's been as faithful to you as you've been to me, through thick and thin…"

Hector rolled his eyes. "Okay, you're laying it on a bit thick. Fine, I'll… talk to him."

"Thanks."

"Look at him," Hector grunted, indicating Nergal, not even paying attention to them. "He surely knows that we won the fight against his minions, and he's still not taking us seriously."

"He'll have to soon," Eliwood said. "If these work."

"They worked pretty well on the morphs. I like the new holy magic feature, for sure." Hector grinned.

"It's all come down to this," Eliwood said, still seriously. "I'm going to check on some other people. Be ready to go in a minute."

"Yes you will," Hector said, and waved.

Lyndis jogged to catch up to Eliwood. "Eliwood…"

"Yes, Lyndis?"

"How… how long did you know?"

"About what?"

"About Hector… and his brother…"

"A while," Eliwood answered. "I… noticed Hector was acting oddly a while ago, so I got Oswin to tell me…"

"I think Ceniro guessed, too," Lyndis said. "I feel like he was trying to support Hector in his own way, the last few days."

"Mm," Eliwood said.

"I'm going to go talk to him. I'll see you in a moment."

"Mm," Eliwood said again, and watched her run off and give Hector a hug. Hector jumped, and Eliwood unashamedly listened in to their conversation with the farseer.

"Hey, what's this now?" Hector demanded, trying to pry her off.

"I just… I'm sorry about your brother, Hector. I'm certain you did not cry."

"No… I can't. It's not time for that."

"You… will never cry for him, will you?"

"Nah. He wouldn't have wanted that."

"Then, when all this is over… I will cry for your part. …Don't die, okay?"

"Okay," Hector said, and awkwardly put an arm around her as she hugged him.

Eliwood took a drink and went to find Marcus. "I think it's time that we sent the rest back, don't you agree?"

"I do. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you on this last push, Lord Eliwood."

"It's not much. We could all still die."

"We believe in you, Lord Eliwood, and you believe in us. Cold, hard reality is an essential factor, but so is hope and determination – and you have both in spades."

"Thank you, Marcus. …Let's let them rest for a few minutes longer. We have that much time, at least."

But Hector came to find him again. "Eliwood, are we going to get this show on the road? Hey, everyone, gather round!"

"Right," Eliwood said. "I really think that the rest of you should pull back now."

"But!" began Sain, who had not been injured, but also had not been chosen for the final group.

"I agree with Eliwood," Athos said unexpectedly. "Too many people will not help and will only be targets for Nergal's wrath."

"Sain," Lyndis said, "lead these people out of the ruins. Get some distance between you and here. If we win, we'll be right behind you. If not, you can at least find a defensible position somewhere outside."

"Lady Lyn," Sain said, distraught.

"It's fine, Sain," she said, gently but firmly. "Go take care of Kent, would you?"

"Yes, Lady Lyn."

Marcus turned to Eliwood. "Lord Eliwood, I believe we are ready."

"Follow me," Eliwood said, and mounted and rode up the stairs.

Nergal turned to them. "So you still come. It's strange, Eliwood. I would have thought that killing Ninian would have crushed your spirit. Are you perhaps as heartless as you claim that I am?"

Eliwood lowered his head. "I know that I killed her. I will never forget. I also know that I've caused much pain for my friends. But… that's why I fight on! And I won't lose here!" His head came up and he brought Durandal into striking position, ready to charge.

"Me either!" Hector roared, already charging with Armads at the ready. Eliwood spurred after him.

Lyndis popped up from behind Hector and bounded off his shoulders, getting more height for her own attack, Sol Katti gleaming. "You've made your last mistake!"

Nergal spread his arms, laughing. "Death feeds me. Death pleases me. I am the essence I consume. You fools will become corpses here, because I wish it to be." A wave of darkness rose from him and engulfed them.

It was like nothing Eliwood had ever felt before. It was as if his very self was dissolving in the darkness, and it caused him agony like he had never imagined. Neither hot, nor cold, no up or down, only a disorienting fall into more blackness and immense pain.

.

When Eliwood managed to lift his head again, he stared dazed at the emerald room he was in. Nergal was still standing there, in the centre, and everyone… his friends… they were all scattered around the edges, as if they had been blown there by some catastrophic explosion.

Only Athos was still standing, his staff glowing blue-white as he looked Nergal in the face. A white-gold beam burst through the ceiling, piercing a thin beam through onto Nergal's head. Athos raised his hand, and a spark travelled down the beam, and then Eliwood had to cover his face from the explosion that followed.

Eliwood struggled to his feet, though his entire body ached. How he was still alive, he did not know, though he was dimly glad that he had sent away most of the group before. Oren was still unconscious, if not dead. Durandal lay near to hand. Eliwood gave a wild warcry and charged at Nergal on foot.

Somewhere behind him, he heard a grunt and knew that Hector was conscious. He couldn't think about that now. All that mattered was striking Nergal.

He slashed with the heavy sword, and missed as Nergal turned to face him, scowling, the dark druid's injured eye rolling wildly. Eliwood spun around the long way, bringing the sword down with all the strength he could muster.

Durandal struck Nergal's shoulder, and while it didn't exactly cleave him in two as it might have a normal person, it did leave its mark and a spray of black blood. Nergal was finally looking unamused and that was gratifying, Eliwood thought, as he gritted his teeth and brought the sword back for another strike.

The only warning he had was a shift in the wind and Lyndis whipped past him, darting with her nodachi past Nergal. Eliwood saw the strike leave a glowing mark on the skirt of Nergal's robes, which quickly darkened past black with more blood.

Nergal glared and began to cast his spell again. Eliwood's eyes widened. If they couldn't stop him here and now, they were well and truly dead.

There was a hoarsely yelled challenge from the other side, and Hector appeared, Armads raised high. Eliwood stabbed. Lyndis slashed.

All three weapons connected, and Nergal staggered. The three lords drew back a pace, panting, their weapons ready to strike again.

There was no need. Nergal coughed, and blood came out. "How…!? How could you harm me…? After all I've done… I've come too far to lose now…!"

"Shoulda given up when Greybeard told you to," Hector wheezed.

"Why…" Nergal gasped, mournfully.

"What?" Eliwood asked, taken aback.

"Why did I want this power… in the first place? What… what was I doing? I… I don't… remember…"

Eliwood heard a sniffle and turned to see Nils. Lyndis hurried to his side. "Nils? What is it?"

"Why… am I crying?" Nils whispered.

"It doesn't matter!" Nergal howled. "I will not die alone! With your last moments… tremble and despair!" He raised his right hand and crushed a glimmering pale-green stone. A burst of light flashed from it, and Nergal fell forward, dead.

"Is he…" Eliwood said.

"He is dead," Athos said. Eliwood sheathed his sword.

"Are you all right?" Lyndis asked Nils.

"I don't know…" Nils said. "Why… am I…"

Hector walked over to Nils and ruffled his hair. "You've just had a long day. No wonder you're emotional. We won, though."

"We…" Nils said.

"Ninian would be proud," Eliwood said. "Ceniro and Ninian both."

The ground shook. Everyone staggered and fell to their hands and knees.

"What's happening!?" Lyndis cried. "Did he do something?"

"Look there!" Athos said, pointing at the Dragon's Gate. It was changing colours, its surface flickering like angry water. It was beginning to glow orange predominantly.

Eliwood climbed to his feet, staggering as the shaking didn't abate. The rest of the group was beginning to recover, and followed suit. "Come on!"

"Eliwood!" Hector yelled. "It's – it's dragons! Don't go up there!"

"All the more reason!" Eliwood yelled back. "We're the only ones who can stop them if they're hostile!"

There was a colossal roar, and a flaming orange-red head broke the surface of the Gate, followed swiftly by the rest of the dragon.

And two more followed it.

Eliwood came to a halt, panting and staring in trepidation at the trio of dragons. "I… wasn't expecting three of them…"

"This was his plan to get post-mortem revenge on us," Hector growled from beside him.

"Can we fight them?" Lyndis said. "We have the weapons, but is that enough!?"

"Wait," Eliwood said. "What if we could talk to them? Nils! Can we speak to them?"

"Lord Eliwood, look out!" Nils shrieked, and the foremost dragon lowered its head and sent a billow of flame at them.

Lyndis screamed, and the three of them grabbed each other, trying to shield each other futilely from the lethal fire.

When they failed to meet their crispy doom, Eliwood cracked open an eye and peered over Hector's shoulder. A shimmering blue barrier met his eyes, and he turned to see Athos holding the barrier with his staff.

"I cannot hold this for long…" the Archsage said. "Pent! Take up the barrier. I must cast Fimbulvetr. It might weaken them. We cannot let them get out! If they do, Elibe will be ash within a month!"

"Yes sir!" Pent said, and raised his own Barrier staff. It wavered slightly; the power of even the Mage General of Etruria was not as great as Archsage Athos.

And even the power of Archsage Athos only caused a little steam off the super-heated hide of the dragons.

"They're not friendly, so we have to fight them," Lyndis said. "But how are we even going to get close!?"

Athos tried Aureola and Forblaze, but the dragons didn't even falter. "They've grown so strong… while I am so weak. Can we defeat them…?"

"I'm actually kind of scared," Hector admitted. "My legs are trembling, and not just because of the ground shaking."

"Me too," Lyndis said. "Never thought I'd face three dragons in my life." She turned to him. "Hector… I never really said this before, but it's been fun fighting with you."

He blinked at her. "It's been fun for me too."

"Don't speak like that!" Eliwood said. "This isn't over yet!" He realized they were still clinging to each other and let go, his hand going to Durandal. The other two let go of each other and stared at him.

"Eliwood?" Hector said.

"We're going to fight. And we're going to win this one, too!"

Lyndis smiled. "When you talk like that, I almost believe you. But those dragons are getting awfully close."

Eliwood drew Durandal. "Then let's do this!"

"Wait," said an ethereal voice, a vaguely familiar voice, and a cloaked figure teleported into the space a little in front of him.

Eliwood jumped – his mind immediately assumed it was Nergal, though Nergal was dead. "Who…?"

"Bramimond!" cried Athos. "You are none too soon!"

"Forgive me," Bramimond murmured. "Preparations… took time."

"Then… it is possible?"

"It is possible," Bramimond said. "If you would all lend me your aid…"

"How do we do that?" Hector said.

"Think happy thoughts," Pent said, smiling.

"And were you privy to any of this?" Hector asked the count suspiciously.

Pent shrugged. "No, but I think I have an idea of what he's doing. Go on, do it."

Eliwood closed his eyes. The happiest thought he could think of was… of being home, in Pherae, with his mother… and with Ninian, alive, in his arms, under the trees in the garden.

There was a flash of pale-green light, and he opened his eyes, startled.

The first thing he saw was sea-foam green, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Ninian's body floated before him, her eyes closed and her arms hanging at her side, but her dress was not stained with her blood. In fact, she looked as if she were only sleeping.

"What… is…!?" Lyndis began.

"I don't believe it…" Eliwood murmured.

"Ow, my eyes," Hector said. "Wait, what!?"

"Let the dragon girl's soul be restored," said Bramimond, and the same pale-green light that had emanated from the crystal Nergal crushed began to coalesce around Ninian.

She floated to the floor… and stood there.

Her large crimson eyes opened. "Ah… where…"

"Ninian!" yelled Nils, and he ran to her.

"Nils!" she gasped, and hugged her brother. "You're all right! I'm so glad… And the others?"

"Right here," Nils said. "Lord Eliwood sent the rest away to be safe, don't worry."

She looked at him, and their eyes met. He was still gaping like a fish, he knew. But he couldn't help it. Ninian… alive…

She smiled at him. "Lord Eliwood… I'm so happy you're all right."

"I…" That was as far as he could get, and then he dropped Durandal, ran forward, and embraced her tightly.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I never meant to…"

"I know," she whispered back. "It's all right. I forgave you from the moment it happened."

He held her all the tighter. "I won't let you leave my side again. I promise."

She looked up at him and smiled, and he felt like he could fight all three dragons single-handedly. "Lord Eliwood…"

"Lady Dragon," Bramimond broke in gently. "We are in danger from your brethren. If you could use your power to turn them back…"

"But… I cannot use my power in this world," she said regretfully.

"Do you not feel it?" Bramimond pressed. "Your power should be returning. It has been restored from your broken dragonstone."

"Ah…" Ninian paused, and gave a deep, relieved sigh. "Yes. I can feel it. All right. I will try." She gently put Eliwood away, and stepped forward, all alone, outside the barrier that Pent and Athos were keeping up.

"You cannot come here," she said softly to the three fire dragons. "This world is not for us anymore…"

She vanished under three streams of fire.

"Ninian!" Eliwood screamed.

Nils took his arm. "She's fine. A little fire won't harm her now."

Indeed, she was still standing, her clothes not even browned by the experience. "I am sorry… I must do this…" She raised her arms, and a freezing wind began to blow through the chamber. It concentrated on the dragons, ice creeping up their legs, stifling their fire, choking them.

They collapsed, and two of them began to dissolve into thin air.

"N-no more…" Ninian gasped, and fell to her knees.

Eliwood started forward, but Bramimond was there first to catch her as she fell sideways into his arms. "I will take care of her," said the dark sage. "She is fine, only a little tired. You take care of the last dragon now, Athos."

"Yes!" Athos said. "It has been weakened. Let us attack!"

The dragon raised itself to its feet as Bramimond and Ninian teleported away, and it glared down at them with eyes that glowed red with slitted pupils.

Eliwood smiled, grabbed Durandal, and got into his fighting stance. "Lyndis, you're the fastest of the three of us. You get its attention, and Hector and I will hack away at it until it dies. With Roland and Durban's help, it shouldn't take too long!"

"Got it!" the other two chorused, and Lyndis sprang into action. Even her sword seemed to have an effect on it, carving white lines in its fiery hide.

"Don't forget about us!" Pent said, and Forblaze exploded against the dragon's left flank, on the opposite side to where Lyndis was currently.

"Everyone fight, but fight carefully!" Eliwood said, ducking the dragon's massive claws.

"Eh, just don't hit us!" Hector said, bringing Armads down on a claw and severing it from the dragon's foot. The dragon roared and swatted at him, sending Hector flying heavily into the far wall.

"Hector!" cried Lyndis.

"I'm all right!" Hector's voice came back. "'s what heavy armour is for!"

"If you weren't so heavy, you could probably dodge better!"

Hector grunted as he struggled to his feet. "Woman, have you seen how tall I am? I'm a target no matter how fast I move! May as well armour up! You, now, you're tiny-"

"Augh!" Lyndis shouted in exasperation, ducking under the dragon's other claw.

Athos stepped forward, and Aureola burned through the ceiling again, striking the dragon in the wing. It flinched and took a step away from the spell. A series of projectiles from the group, and Pent's Forblaze, struck it from the other side, and it reared up and hissed at them. Great stones from the ceiling, loosened by Aureola, fell to the floor, coming dangerously close to hitting Wallace and Harken, but also providing possible cover from the dragonfire.

Eliwood looked up at the dragon's head, towering above him. He wasn't Lyndis, able to bound over horses from a standing position, but he could probably still get at the dragon's throat…

The dragon lowered its head to him and Athos, quick as a snake, and inhaled in preparation to breathing fire.

"Eliwood, get out of there!" Lyndis yelled, appearing on the dragon's neck and running along it. Flames leapt up in the wake of her footsteps, and when she jumped off again, her dress was on fire. But she had distracted the dragon from burning Eliwood, and now it was shooting fire in her direction. She dodged it and put out her dress with a quick roll to the side.

Athos cast Aureola again, snapping off the dragon's other wing. The dragon snarled deafeningly and stomped on the Archsage.

"Greybeard!" Hector cried, running back to the action, but the sage had put up a barrier just in time, holding off the dragon's foot. But he was clearly weakening quickly.

The group was doing its best to be distracting, running or galloping around, but the dragon twisted its head and blew fire at all of them. Only quick work by both Pent and Canas saved them from being torched, that and the stones giving them slight cover against the fire.

Hector turned to Eliwood. "Eliwood! Here, I'll give you a boost!" He held out Armads horizontally.

"You're crazy!" Eliwood said, and grinned. He charged towards Hector, leaping on to the blade of the axe. Hector heaved, and Eliwood jumped from the edge, getting about twice as high as he would normally. Durandal blazed with fierce light as he brought it down between the dragon's eyes. Once, twice, thrice, and the heat was erupting around him – it was burning his boots, it would burn him from the inside out – but he was winning, he was doing this for Athos, for Elibe, for Ninian, and nothing was going to stop him now.

There was a roar, possibly from the dragon, and his ears felt like they would burst. His circlet was searing his brow like a brand. He couldn't tell which was was up again, everything was fire…

.

Everything was cool, soft welcoming coolness, and he could hear Hector and Lyndis calling his name. He could even hear Nils calling his name. He smiled and opened his eyes.

Athos was collapsed beside him, his barrier still intact, but the old Archsage was hardly breathing. The dragon was nowhere to be seen, but there was a lot of stone rubble everywhere, and he could see sky above.

First he should let them know he was all right. "I'm here! Athos is here! Come quickly, I think we need a healer!"

"I'm on my way," Pent called from somewhere across the room, and coughed.

Isadora was first to them. "My lord!"

"I seem to be fine, Isadora. How is everyone else?"

She looked back.

"We seem to be in one piece, somehow," Wallace said, clanking up, followed by Hector and Lyndis in a hurry.

"Eliwood!" Hector cried. "How are you alive!? I thought you'd been lost in that explosion?"

"Explosion?" Eliwood asked stupidly.

"Oh! Pent!" Lyndis ran to help him, though he was already leaning on Louise, limping.

He waved her off. "I'm fine, just a little bruised. Lord Athos!"

Hector knelt beside the sage, gently lifting him into a more comfortable position.

The old sage opened his eyes. "Ah… so you have won. You are… truly worthy successors to Roland."

"Thank you, sir," Eliwood said. "Hold still, we need to heal you."

Athos shook his head weakly. "It will be of no use. I am an old man, and I expended the last of my energy to protect us from that blast."

"Lord Athos!" Pent exclaimed. "I can-"

"No, Pent. I am content to pass here. I have seen this trial through to its end. Do not grieve for me. Soon I will be with long-absent friends. I have no regrets. Heal the others…"

Pent did so.

There was the sound of a teleport from behind them, and Bramimond appeared, with Ninian again. "Athos."

"Bramimond, my old friend. It seems I will be leaving this world before you."

"I will not be around for many more years either," Bramimond said serenely. "Our task is done. We have guarded the world as long as was necessary. It is not up to us anymore, but to these ones."

"They have proven themselves equal to the challenge, certainly," Athos agreed. "Though… my young friends… my heart foretells that you shall face equally great challenges in the future… Neither Bramimond nor I will be here to help a land in need…"

"What do you mean?" Lyndis asked.

"An evil star shall rise in Bern… and all of Elibe will be awash in blood. But once again the children of Roland's fire shall lead hope to the land…" He gave a gentle sigh, and his head fell back on Hector's arm.

"Lord Athos…" Eliwood said.

"I think Greybeard has gone," Hector said.

"But look," Lyndis said. "He's smiling."

Bramimond quietly teleported away. Ninian turned away from them and took a few steps towards the Dragon's Gate, which was now gently rippling with a silver light. "So once again darkness will sweep over the land…"

Eliwood looked up at her. "Ninian…" He stood and walked over to her, and she turned to him and smiled, then bent her head, hiding her face behind her hair.

"Lord Eliwood… I'm sorry that I grieved you."

"It's nothing," he said, and it truly wasn't. His heart felt light to see her again. "Ninian… I'm so happy you're back. I can hardly believe it; I feel like I'm in a dream. Espcially after we lost…" He suddenly sobered. Ninian didn't know yet.

"You lost…?" she asked gently, looking afraid.

Eliwood bowed his head. "Ceniro died in the battle before the Dragon's Gate. An archer shot him, and he was gone before any of our healers could get there."

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped, and tears came into her eyes. "He was always so kind to us. He never hesitated to let us help, but he kept us safe – and he kept me near you…" It was exactly what Nils had said, and he nodded.

"Yes… I'm grateful for that as well. He achieved marvels, and our last battle was difficult without him. It was only thanks to his training that we succeeded at all."

"I am glad you overcame it all," she said. "And that I could help you again."

"Ninian…" he said, returning to his original intention, "after I lost you… I knew beyond all hope that I wanted you by my side forever. I need you, Ninian. Please… come home with me to Pherae." He reached for her hand, but she didn't take it, and he let his own hand fall to his side, staring at her in anxious confusion.

"I… I wish to apologize," she said, keeping her head down. "I'm to blame for all this."

"Ninian! Ninian, that's not true."

"If it wasn't for us… If it wasn't for me, this whole thing would never have happened. You see… Long ago, before the Scouring, I think, we lived here. I'm not sure. We were children, truly children, then. And we were driven out. But… since then, not a day went by that I did not think back to the place I had called home… And so, when Nergal called us… I couldn't resist."

"We didn't mean to stay long," Nils said, coming to stand hand-in-hand with her. "Only long enough to look around, to see home one last time. But… Nergal captured us, and… well, everything happened from there."

"It was my weakness that led to this," Ninian said, and Eliwood saw a tear run down her smooth white cheek. "My weakness that led to all this death and destruction. And these children here… Those fire dragons… They were just like me. They just wanted to see…"

"Ninian… Nils…" Eliwood organized his thoughts. "First of all, it's not your fault at all. It's Nergal's fault, all of it. The Scouring, though, we humans have to take the blame for that. We may have attacked you in ignorance, but that's no excuse to shirk our responsibility for what happened."

"Do you truly think so?" Nils asked doubtfully.

"I do," Eliwood said, smiling now. "And my father would say the same thing. And I know what else he would say: let's work together for the future. If the entire continent could be like that hidden city of Arcadia that Lord Athos spoke of, a place where humans and dragons could live in harmony together again… wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"That would be wonderful indeed," Ninian said, and clapped her hands. "But that won't happen for a long time here, probably not in our lifetimes…"

"So, we can't stay here," Nils said. "But there are humans in the world we're returning to, too. Meeting everyone… it's definitely changed my opinion of humans, completely. We'll try our best to live in peace with the humans in our new world, for sure!"

"Right then!" Hector said. "Good luck with that!"

Eliwood's face fell. "But… if we could find that hidden city, you could…"

"The gate is still open," Nils said gently. "If it stays that way, other dragons will certainly come through soon. It can only be properly closed, by us who opened it, on the other side."

"It's true," Ninian said. "We must return to our world."

"But… is that the only way?" Eliwood cried, his heart sinking in his chest. "Are you not saying I'll never see you two again?"

"Lord Eliwood," Ninian said, her eyes shining with emotion, "Lord Eliwood, I am truly blessed to have met you. Please, don't forget me, for I'll never forget you."

"I… Ninian! It… Is there no other way?"

She couldn't meet his eyes, and took Nils by the hand. "Let us return to our world, Nils…"

But unexpectedly, Nils held firm. "Ninian… The air of this world has changed much since we left it the first time. No matter how long we stay here, our strength will never return. In fact, if we stay many more years, we won't live long."

"Nils?" Ninian stopped, staring at her brother.

"But even knowing that… I know you truly want to stay," he said. "I understand. Stay here. Stay with Lord Eliwood."

Nils?" Ninian gasped, her eyes widening.

Nils stepped forward and offered Ninian's hand to Eliwood. "Lord Eliwood… Please look after my sister."

Eliwood stared at Nils, no less surprised than Ninian. "I will. I will make her happy, I swear it." He smiled a little lopsidedly. "After all, I have no wish for an angry ice dragon brother-in-law to come destroy my castle."

Ninian giggled.

"But I wish for nothing more than to make her happy… to make you happy. I will take care of her, Nils, you have my word."

"Nils…" Ninian said, concerned again. "Are you sure? This… I would never see Lord Eliwood again, but this way… I'll never see you again. But the gate must be closed…"

"I'm fine," Nils said, smiling bravely. "I'm going alone. I don't have your curiosity, and I have work to do in the other world, and… I… also want you to be happy, and since you're in love…"

"Nils!" Ninian blushed. But she was smiling. She rushed forward and hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back. There might have been tears on both sides. After letting them have a moment to themselves, Lyndis stepped forward and joined the hug, followed quickly by Hector and then Eliwood.

After a while, Ninian and Nils extricated themselves. "I think we'd like a minute," Ninian said, wiping her eyes.

Eliwood offered her a handkerchief. "Take your time. We'll be over here." They left the siblings by the Gate and withdrew a little.

"What's happening?" Wallace had to know. "The kids are going through the Gate?"

"Nils is going home," Lyndis explained. "Ninian is staying with Eliwood. They're saying goodbye now."

"That's a little sad," Wallace said. "But everyone must part ways sooner or later. I'm happy for Lord Eliwood, though. She is a lovely girl!"

Hector slapped Eliwood on the back. "Good for you, buddy!"

Eliwood began to blush. "Stop it, Hector."

.

"Okay," Nils said. "I'm off."

"Take care!" Hector said, waving broadly.

"I'll miss you!" Lyn said, apparently restraining herself from hugging the boy again.

"We'll never forget you, I promise," Eliwood said, with an arm around Ninian.

Ninian waved shakily. "I… Goodbye, Nils, I l-love you. You're the best brother a sister could ask for…"

"Don't cry, Ninian," Nils said, standing at the edge of the Gate and looking back. "Even if we're in separate worlds, and we never see each other again, our bond will never, ever be cut."

"Well said," Hector said.

"More importantly… Be as happy as you can."

He waved one last time and stepped through the gate. They could see him dimly through the silver wavering surface, and he slowly faded from view – and after a moment, the silver glow faded, leaving the Gate dark and empty.

"Nils," Ninian said, and sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

"Thank you, Nils," Eliwood said softly.

"Come on," Lyn said, already heading back to the group. "We have to let the others know that everything's all right!"

"Right behind you!" Hector called.

"Unbelievable," Eliwood said, smiling. "Where do they get all that energy, again?"

Ninian giggled.

Oren came up to him, and Eliwood took the reins, but didn't mount. He wanted to use his own two legs, to feel the ache in them that meant he was still alive.

"My lord," Marcus said. "What shall we do with Lord Athos's body?"

"I'll take care of him," Lord Pent said, looking up from an earnest discussion with his wife. "I'm not sure yet if we should take him back to Nabata or to Missur, but we should place him among friends."

"I shall take him, if I may," Marcus said.

"Please do," Pent said. "Let me help you."

They came out into brilliant sunlight; Valor's omnipresent fog and clouds had parted for once.

"How hopeful," Lyn said. "It's a beautiful day. I wish Ceniro could have seen this. Could have seen us."

"It'll just make it hot, trekking back to the ship," Hector said.

Lyn glared at him, and then saw that he was joking and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so, I have a bone to pick with you, lady. Since when did you decide I made a good trampoline!?"

"What? Oh, you mean when I attacked Nergal? I needed more height, and you're tall! I'm short, and while I'm strong, I don't have a lot of body weight to throw behind it."

"You could have warned me!"

"Ugh, are we doing this again?"

Eliwood ignored his bickering friends and scooped Ninian into his arms, heedless of his aches and bruises. "You'll truly come home with me to Pherae?"

"Yes!" Ninian said.

He smiled into her eyes, and she put her arms around his neck. He bent his head and kissed her deeply.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

.

Eliwood stood in the little cemetery of Dorborough, the tiny village where Ceniro's family lived. Behind him stood the rest of the group, including Eliwood's mother Eleanora, the pirate captain Fargus, and Ceniro's Ostian friend Renee. Lyndis, Hector, and Ninian stood at Eliwood's left, and Ceniro's family, his father, mother, sister, and brother stood to his right. All around him was the sound of muffled sniffles. Hector's face was like stone, and Lyndis's face was white but composed.

The villagers were in attendence as well, some of them for Ceniro's family's sake, but most of them to be of service for the unusual gathering of lords, ladies, and knights. Eliwood imagined the village had never seen such a gathering, from the way the people looked in awe at the lords and ladies and with apprehension, not to mention confusion, at the tough mercenaries who were half of their group.

They'd arrived in Badon from Valor a few days prior. Hector had sent a fast messenger to Ostia, and they had set out southeast towards Santaruz immediately, sending messages ahead to Dorborough and Pherae. Captain Fargus had insisted on accompanying them, after his sailor Dart had given him a full account on the trip over. Eliwood was grateful.

Lyndis spent much of the journey to herself, riding a little away from the others, though Florina tailed her. She hardly ate, and though she was normally emotional, she hardly cried. Eliwood knew how she felt. It was the same way he felt when his father died. It was almost the way he felt now… although Ninian at his side tacitly reminded him that he wasn't alone. He wished he could remind Lyndis of that somehow.

It was Hector, surprisingly enough, who was making inroads on Lyndis's mute grief. He didn't have much to say, but he stayed near her through the journey, and Eliwood could tell she appreciated him being there as much as she appreciated Florina being there. Although Florina was still shy of Hector…

They'd arrived in Dorborough at the same time as Renee and Eleanora that afternoon, and the villagers were ready for them. Eliwood had gone to the family, saying small words of support and sympathy. Lyndis had told him a little of what Ceniro had told her of his family, so Eliwood knew something of what to expect. The mother was passionately inconsolable, the sister was grieving but composed, the father was silent, and the brother was apathetic. But they followed him, as Marcus gathered the rest of the villagers, to the little cemetery where Merlinus, Kent, and Sain were setting everything up while Dorcas and Bartre dug Ceniro's grave.

Now, in front of Eliwood was the plain, polished casket that their dear friend was laid in. He was laid with his staff, and the farseer, and Lyndis had placed her earrings in his hand. Eliwood would have given him a more richly decorated casket, but he knew Ceniro wouldn't have wanted that.

At least he could say something for him. "Family… Friends… Honoured companions… It's time to give our farewells to Ceniro, son of Caro, son of Conrad." Already he had to pause and take a deep breath to restrain his emotions. "He was one of the most brilliant tactical minds of our generation, or perhaps in the world today… but he was also a man of great integrity and inner strength. In my recent journey to find my father and avenge his death, Ceniro was always at my side not only as our strategist, but as one of my closest friends. He always did his best for us, and sought to keep all of us safe through our many perils, and not only that, but to make us happy and to strengthen the bonds that already existed between us." He reached down and took Ninian's hand, and she squeezed it. "He has always done this for everyone he traveled with."

"He was a quiet man, a patient man, with his own doubts and fears and loves, and he was taken from us far too soon. We were so close to the end of our journey, but through no fault of his own, he was slain on the battlefield by an arrow before any of our healers could-"

"That's exactly why I didn't want him to go!" his mother burst out, sobbing. "I always knew he'd come to a bad end, messing around with his learning and his traipsing about! Carrying on with wild Sacaean women and all these fancy warring lords…" Lyn didn't react, though Hector raised an eyebrow. "If only he'd been content to stay home and be a carpenter like his father, I wouldn't have lost my s-s-s-son…" Eliwood turned to her and caught her as she fell to her knees, embracing her warmly.

Ceniro's sister looked uncomfortable. "Mom… he wouldn't have wanted…"

"Don't tell me what my boy wanted, Anlie! How could a quiet boy like him have ever survived the life he chose? If it wasn't this, it would be something else. And now it's too late, it's too late…"

Pent shuffled a bit and looked slightly guilty. Louise patted his arm comfortingly.

"Patsi?" Eliwood said softly. "I know you and Ceniro didn't always get along about his profession…"

"And you and your noble friends dragged him to his death, Marquess Pherae!"

"Patsi," said Ceniro's father Caro soothingly. Eliwood saw the resemblance between him and Ceniro quite clearly, in his quietness and patience, and in a physical resemblance, although Caro's face was weathered and lined, and his shoulders broad and strong, and Ceniro's face had been smooth and youthful with only a couple creases in the corners of his eyes, and his shoulders were, like the rest of him, thin. Perhaps the father was even quieter than the son.

"…But I know that he loved you and the rest of his family very much."

"Oh, he didn't say that. He always hated that I didn't want him to get his schooling in Ostia or wander around as a penniless vagabond. What sort of a life was that? He was always doing his own thing, his family forgotten."

"He never forgot you," Lyn said, finally. "He didn't say much, but I know he thought of you. He spoke to me of all of you, and how he hoped you were doing well. He wanted to see the world, but he also wanted to see you and hoped that someday you would accept what he was."

Patsi stared at Lyn with wide, tear-streaming eyes, and bowed her head, sobbing and clinging to Eliwood's arm. "And I… I-I drove him away… with my nagging and scolding… Maybe he would have stayed at home and been safe if I hadn't pushed him so…"

"I don't think so," Eliwood said. "I think he wanted to go, and only regretted that you didn't like it. But he was forever stopping to see the view, to look at the sky, the trees, the rivers, even in the midst of battle. He wanted to see everything; only everything was large enough for him."

Patsi only cried. Anlie came forward. "I'm sorry, my lord," she said to Eliwood, her own eyes red as she helped her mother up and away.

"Don't be," Eliwood assured her. "I… think my mother feels exactly the same. But the fact is… without Ceniro, we would not have come through to the end, and you know… he was as good as they come. We never lost anyone in battle, and while he couldn't control or foresee everything, he is one of the reasons we can all stand here today alive and able to keep living."

"So my son's death was an 'acceptable loss', or whatever you fighting people call it?" Patsi said bitterly.

"No," Eliwood said. "No loss is ever acceptable. He thought so too, and that is why we all owe him a great debt, a debt that cannot be repaid. But if there is anything that any of us can do for you or your family, it shall be done. You have my word."

"He helped save the world," Lyndis said flatly.

Patsi laughed hysterically. "You can't say that. That only happens in fairytales. The world's not in any danger."

"It's good you think so," Hector murmured, quietly enough that she didn't seem to hear him.

Ceniro's sister Anlie stepped forward. "Lord Eliwood… Lady Lyndis, um, Lord Hector, I do thank you for your kind words about my brother. I… wish I could see him again, when he turns up unexpectedly the way he does, all tired and hungry and skinnier than ever… with his big glad eyes and his smile… but I know you took care of him, and I do thank you for that too." She sniffled. "I miss him. But I know he was doing the right thing, wherever he was. Please… let's lay him to rest."

Eliwood nodded. "Let's do that. Together."

When the casket was finally lowered into the ground and covered with earth, then Lyndis fell to her knees and began to cry. Hector knelt beside her, an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against him. Eliwood and Ninian wept together, hand in hand, and Ceniro's sister began to cry almost as hard as her mother.

.

When all was done, and the villagers and the soldiers began to disperse, Anlie recovered herself as much as she could and came over to Lyndis. "Lady Lyndis? Um… I… well, earlier this year, when my brother came home last, he told me about you. He talked about a lot of things, but I could tell that you were very special to him." She almost burst into tears again, but stopped herself with a great effort.

"Yeah, they hooked up eventually," Hector said, and Lyndis punched him in the leg. "Ow! Woman, I'm only telling what happened!"

"Shut up, Hector," Lyndis said, and Hector shut up.

Anlie looked surprised at their banter. "Oh… well… that's good! I was wondering. But he said you were the most beautiful woman he knew, and not just because of your face or your hair or your eyes, but also because you were strong in arm and spirit, and graceful and determined. Though… you know… knew Ceniro as well as I do… when I asked if he would marry you, where you would live with his wandering ways, he laughed and said he wasn't good enough for you, that you were spending time with your family but you really belonged to Sacae…"

Lyndis hiccuped. "He got over that eventually, I think. Thank you for telling me this."

Anlie considered her quietly. "I can tell you loved him back. I can tell you're a good person, whatever my mother may say, and I know it's not the time to say it, but I wish… I wish you to find happiness someday."

"Thank you," Lyndis said.

"I agree," Pent said, coming over as well with Louise. "You already know this, but Ceniro… well, he didn't speak of you much, but I could see how much he cared for you in every word." He turned to Anlie and bowed. "Pent of Reglay, and this is my wife, Louise. We worked with Ceniro last year."

Anlie's eyes opened wide. "You're THE Count Reglay? Oh my word, Ceniro almost talked of you more than Lady Lyndis when he visited."

Pent chuckled. "He did seem taken with my skills and interests."

"Not only that, but he looked up to you almost as… as an older brother, the way he spoke. He was so happy to find another person who spoke to him as himself and not as… a peasant boy."

"Of course," Louise said. "He was so dear to us, we couldn't do otherwise. I wish we could have done more for him…"

Anlie curtseyed low. "You did so much for him already, all of you. On behalf of my family, and my brother, thank you for everything."

Louise stepped forward gracefully and hugged her. "It's all right, my dear. You don't have to be so formal. It's all right to grieve for him, even in front of us." Anlie clung to her.

Eliwood had gone over to Ceniro's brother. "Drew, wasn't it? I understand you were serving at Castle Santaruz when I passed through a couple months ago."

"What of it? …My lord," Drew said, not meeting his eyes.

"I wondered if you would like a similar position at Castle Pherae? As a way of showing my thanks to Ceniro, because I can't give them to him directly…"

"No thanks, my lord," Drew said, and bowed and walked away abruptly.

Eliwood scratched his head. "What was that all about?"

Ninian joined him. "I think he's been influenced by his mother to see outside influences as corrupting. Castle Santaruz is a safe, dull place, where he can be more than a boy from a small village, but not likely to come to harm… I think. But Castle Pherae is too far away, and in a different canton…"

Eliwood stared at her. "You're brilliant. How did you know that?"

"Ah… I just listened? That's what the subtext told me…"

"I am going to need your help in ruling Pherae, certainly," Eliwood said with a small smile. "Ninian, have I told you that I love you?"

"Several times, Lord Eliwood," Ninian said, smiling back. "But more often doesn't hurt."

He smiled and embraced her.

.

A month later, most of the mercenaries had gone, but the Ostia, Pherae, Caelin, and Etrurian groups were in Ostia for Hector's Ascension to Marquess. It hadn't taken long for Hector to be acclaimed the new Marquess Ostia, but somewhat longer to make preparations for it. But now, the day had arrived, and Eliwood and Ninian were speaking privately to Hector beforehand.

"Ugh," Hector groaned, slouching in a chair in his navy-blue best dress uniform. "If only it was over and I could get to work…"

"Hector, sit up," Eliwood scolded. "You'll wrinkle your beautiful coat."

"You sound like Oswin," Hector said, and slouched further. "I hate these clothes. They're so uncomfortable!"

"They look good on you," Lyndis said, leaning on the arm of the chair. "But Hector? Wanting to get to work? What is the world coming to?"

"I never thought I'd be leader of all Lycia – at least, not so soon!" Hector groused at her. "But… now that everyone knows my brother's dead, the throne can't be left empty forever."

"What does sitting on the throne have to do with work?" Lyndis asked.

Hector looked unusually serious, standing and going over to the window overlooking the courtyard. "My brother let me play around for quite a while."

"Fighting Nergal wasn't exactly playing around…" Eliwood said.

"No, but… If I don't grow up soon and accept that I can't just be a glorified mercenary-lord, he might start screaming at me from beyond the grave…"

Eliwood and Lyndis laughed heartily.

Hector snorted. "What? I wouldn't put it past him."

"You're going to be just fine," Eliwood said. "Remember, you have the support of Pherae and Caelin. Not to mention of the heirs of the defunct House of Cornwell. And friendly ties to Etruria."

"You made a lot of connections, didn't you?" Ninian said. "You'll be a fine Marquess, Lord Hector. You are honest and compassionate, and stern enough that your lords and knights will listen to you."

"Yeah, but they also know me as an incorrigible, violent goof-up," Hector said, grinning at her. "Thanks, Ninian. I'm going to do my best, of course. I can steer this ship."

"I thought you didn't like ships," Lyndis said.

"I don't mind 'em. It's _you_ who doesn't like ships," Hector answered. "By the way, you meant what you said, about visiting?"

"Of course I did," Lyndis said. "It was part of our deal, wasn't it? And Sacaeans never go back on their word."

"Sorry, what?" Eliwood said. "You made a deal?"

"Yeah," Hector said. "When her grandfather retires, or passes away, or whatever, Caelin will be put under Ostian protection. There's no distant family close enough to inherit, surprisingly, so I guess it's becoming an Ostian protectorate – at least until your kids decide they'd rather be Marquesses than Sacaean nomads." He made a face, and Lyndis made a face back at him.

"But what was the deal?" Ninian asked.

"That in exchange, I'd visit Ostia now and then," Lyndis said.

"Once every two years!" Hector cried. "You said every two years, and I'm holding you to that."

Eliwood looked at them both. "I feel that this is something you both would have done anyway."

"Yes, that's true," Lyndis said, and shrugged. "But making it a 'deal' is more interesting and binding. Anyway, yes, Hector, I will come and visit. I might even come and visit next year, if I miss you all enough."

"If you miss us enough? Who's this 'us'?" Hector asked suspiciously.

"Well, Serra, of course. She wants to give me fashion advice," Lyndis said wickedly, and Hector choked and bent over coughing violently.

"You wouldn't consider traveling south to Pherae as well, would you?" Eliwood asked. "We'd certainly be happy to see you too."

For a moment Lyndis's eyes were clouded, but then she smiled. "Yes, of course, I can do that. Ceniro said it was a very lovely place, and I've never really been, except that one time when Athos teleported us there and then we had to leave the next day in such a hurry…"

"Come when you can," Ninian said happily, and Lyn smiled and nodded.

.

And a month after that, an even smaller group was gathered in Castle Pherae for Eliwood's Ascension to Marquess Pherae. As Eliwood had done for him, Hector was with him in the hour beforehand. "Lookin' good, Eliwood!"

"Does it?" Eliwood asked doubtfully, looking at the blue-white silk jacket and fidgeting with the hems of the sleeves. "I feel… awkward."

"You look splendid," Ninian said happily, straightening his cloak. "You look even more lordly than usual."

"This is also when you're formally announcing your engagement, right?" Hector asked. "Took you long enough."

"Well, I spoke with Mother, and she said I might as well wait for today," Eliwood said. "Anyone of any importance already knows, anyway."

"Okay, so, well…" Hector said.

Eliwood and Ninian waited. Bells could be heard outside, tolling joyfully for the new Marquess.

"When are you guys gonna bang?" Hector said finally, a giant shit-eating grin on his face.

Eliwood almost punched him, but settled for awkward, near-hysterical laughter. "H-Hector!"

"Lord Hector, you are terrible," Ninian said, but she, too, was smiling, though blushing.

"I know," Hector said unrepentantly. "But hey, now you're less nervous about the ceremony, right?"

Eliwood coughed. "Er… yes. So, have you heard from the others?"

"Which ones of the others? I've only heard from a few."

"Me too," Eliwood said.

"Well… Lyn and her friend Florina and Florina's boyfriend Wil are all going together… And I think Fiora and her boyfriend Kent are headed up to Ilia, which means that Sain fellow is now Commander of Caelin."

"Indeed," Eliwood murmured. "I'm sure he'll do well."

"You think?" Hector said. "With all that flirting he did as a married man?"

"It's his way of being silly," Ninian said calmly. "It's a terrible habit, I'm sure, but I met his wife, and she's just the same. He's a very good knight underneath."

"If you say so," Hector said, shrugging. "My people are all still in Ostia, of course, although you know Oswin's with me. Pent and Louise and Erk went off to Etruria shortly after my Ascension, though they sent you best wishes."

"I know," Eliwood said. "They also sent a letter. Let's see… All my knights are here, and so are some other people… Lowen's marrying Rebecca, did you know that? Dorcas is here with his wife, and since Merlinus's new merchant venture already failed I've asked him to help Marcus run the castle."

"He does good work?" Hector asked.

"You would know," Eliwood said. "The best. Oh, and little Nino is living somewhere in Pherae with her guardian."

"Right," Hector said. "It's a good place for her."

"I haven't heard much from the others. I think General Wallace is wandering again, St. Elimine only knows where he'll end up this time. Lucius has started an orphanage in Araphen, and Canas has returned home to his wife."

"You're much better informed than I am," Hector complained. "Maybe I should kick Matthew again and make sure I'm getting all the reports… I know that Hawkeye went back to the desert. He has a daughter, doesn't he? Priscilla's gone back to the Caerleons in Etruria. And… I don't know the rest."

"Me either," Eliwood said. "But they're out there somewhere, doing whatever they do. …You ever think about Lord Athos's last words?"

"Yeah," Hector said quietly. "An evil star rises in Bern? You don't suppose there will be more trouble with King Desmond?"

"I don't know," Eliwood said.

"Even I don't know," Ninian said. "I'll only know when it grows strong, and by then it might be too late…"

"We have Armads and Durandal, right? So we can fight against whatever happens, keep the peace, whatever needs doing."

"I don't think we should use them," Eliwood said. "We're strong enough to, yes, but they're too strong to be used against normal people. We shouldn't even use them as a deterrent. I… think we should hide them again, where we found them."

"The traps are gone, and the spirits, too," Hector said.

"I know," Eliwood said. "But it's better than having them in our castles. Besides, Lord Athos didn't say _when_ this evil would rise. We might be too old to fight by the time it happens."

"So we teach our kids to fight," Hector said. "Which I'd be doing in any case, because it's not a safe world out there, and I wouldn't want my son to be less of a fighter than I was!"

"And who are you having kids with?" Eliwood prodded his friend, grinning almost as wide as Hector had been before.

"Shut up! I'm still young, and I'm not going to die in some silly skirmish before I've had time to marry some lady. Anyway, I think you're probably right. As usual."

"About what?"

"I'll go hide Armads again sometime. Maybe I'll ask Lyn to come with. It'll be our little groups, just like our journey. Could use you, too. You have to put Durandal back in the north of Ostia, right? Come with us to the Western Isles!"

"That is tempting," Eliwood said. "I'll consider it carefully. Next year, when Lyndis is in Ostia?"

"Sounds like a plan," Hector said.

"Wait… You and Lyndis?"

"What about me and Lyndis?"

"Well… you know…"

Hector folded his arms and stared at Eliwood, who was slowly turning as red as his hair. Ninian giggled.

Eliwood pointed at his fiancee. "See, she knows what I'm talking about!"

"Well, I don't," Hector said airily. "But yeah. I know I can't keep her around forever. Like Ceniro said, she belongs to Sacae. But I'm glad she visits."

"I think she will stay with you more and more," Ninian said. "She likes you too, but she needs time."

Hector nodded. "I understand that. I can wait. And she can visit Sacae whenever she wants."

Eliwood smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I think you have nothing to worry about."

"What!? Me? And here I was, trying to tell you the same thing. Isn't it about time?"

Eliwood blinked, and then gasped. "Oh! It is! My mother is waiting. Come, Ninian!"

"I'm here!" she said, and took his arm.

Hector chuckled. "Have fun, you two."


End file.
